Hunter x Of x Flames
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: The Association and the Underworld have always had a tentative truce between them. But that agreement is thrown into question when the last heir of the Vongola decides to become a Hunter to escape the mafioso that chase him. Too bad he doesn't have much of a choice, but he won't bow to their whims so easily. The Vongola will either rise from the ashes of their mistakes, or fall.
1. Chapter 1

When he was seven, Tsunayoshi (commonly called "Dame-Tsuna" by his peers) came home to a sight that would forever change him, never mind the events that would transpire immediately after.

His mother, cold on the ground with a suspicious red puddle forming around her. Before he could even cry out and go to her, a large hand appeared without warning with something that smelled off. He never even had the chance to say goodbye, or to pretend he had imagined it, because he woke up in another country with people he certainly didn't know that set off all the alarms in his head.

He screamed until his voice gave out, every time they came for him.

The only comfort he had in that terrible place was that he wasn't alone...there were three others who had managed to keep their sanity in this hell.

Joushima Ken, a feral kid who was able to 'shift' into different animal characteristics, but once you got past his rough exterior was very loyal to his friends.

Kakimoto Chikusa didn't talk much, but was scarily intelligent. He was the first to master basic Japanese once he identified what the new kid was saying. Tsuna couldn't blame him in the least for shutting down his emotions to the point he had a perpetual poker face... he wished desperately he could do something similar.

The last, and strongest of the trio, was Rokudo Mukuro. He was weird. Very, very weird, and his hair looked like a pineapple. He hadn't appreciated the comparison, but he didn't stab Tsuna either. He went for the worst of the experiments, the ones where they forced him to endure what could only be called true hell.

Out of the three of them, he was interested in Tsuna the most.

Tsuna had no idea how long he had been in that horrible place, but his presence provided an odd balm to the souls of the other three. He felt safe around Mukuro-nii and the others, and they felt like things could one day get better with him nearby.

And then came the day everything did change. He would only remember bits and pieces of it, not that he cared to remember any of it.

One moment they were experimenting on him and Ken, the next orange fire erupted from his body. Thick tendrils of it latched onto Ken, who surged from the straps and ripped the throat out of the scientist near him. It didn't take much for him to liberate Tsuna, still burning with that fire.

They reached their cell and freed Chikusa and Mukuro.

More tendrils, though Mukuro had the thickest of them all, latched onto them and Tsuna felt warm. Like he was being hugged by his poor mother... the woman those bastards laughed about killing.

He didn't know what a Vongola was, but he hated them for not protecting them. If they were so important, then why hadn't anyone been there when they really needed them?

"Kufufufu... It's time to leave," said Mukuro firmly.

"What about Tsuna?" asked Ken. Tsuna was too weak to even move, but was still firmly alive...if burning.

Chikusa was the weakest fighter out of all them, and his weapons wouldn't be nearly as much use as Ken's strength or Mukuro's illusions. He easily shouldered the weight of the seven and a half year old... it didn't help Tsuna was so light, and made lighter with the fire on his head. He was practically floating so long as it was lit.

It took surprisingly little time for them to reach the surface... whatever the fire was, it made the other experiments turn on their creators and ignore the group...before they turned on each other and killed themselves.

It wouldn't be for a few years that Tsuna found out exactly _what_ it was that his fire did to them, because it didn't burn his friends. In fact they seemed immune to whatever he was doing to the people around them.

They had tried to reach an unobtainable Sky... and fell into Discord when it completely rejected them, turning them into a two-sided weapon that aided in their escape. Their own Flames turned on them, causing their self destruction.

Needless to say Mukuro was both impressed and worried.

Tsuna's fire didn't dissipate until they were well away from the now ruined labs...they set fire to everything inside that they didn't steal.

He wouldn't wake up for hours, but when he saw the sun he honestly thought he was dreaming. Too bad Ken ruined that illusion with his ugly mug.

"Wake up sleeping beauty! We're free!"

"What!?" squawked Tsuna, looking around wildly, not daring to hope. That was one of the things that had almost died out.

But there was no lab, and there was definitely sun, trees, even the sky.

"How..."

Ken grinned at him, and he felt the warm hand of Mukuro-nii on his head.

"We have you to thank. Whatever that orange fire was, it set the others on a rampage and made the experiments turn on each other. They were too busy trying to stop them to realize we were free enough to kill them all," said Mukuro proudly.

Tsuna blanched, but he had seen so much death and pain that he didn't throw up...barely.

"I thought you said you'd only leave me behind because I'm not as useful as Ken or Chikusa?" said Tsuna.

"I changed my mind. You're definitely useful. You might not have Ken's strength or Chikusa's intelligence...but whatever that orange fire was, it's definitely useful enough. Otherwise it would have been much, much harder than it was getting free," said Mukuro with his dark chuckle.

Mukuro would admit to thinking little Tsuna a liability. He was still too innocent and was more a big ball of fluff than any threat. He would have rescued the brat...if only to keep Ken and Chikusa from getting angry and possibly rebelling against him long enough to see the kid in a better home.

But then he starts sprouting fire that can make his enemies turn their fangs on each other, leaving them perfectly exposed for his trident and his illusions...if they didn't destroy themselves first. Whatever the fluffball was doing, they were completely immune.

Instead they seemed almost _empowered_ as long as they were defending him. His illusions had never been stronger, and his ability came more naturally and with less feedback after being hit with whatever the fire was after Ken broke the lock, carrying the brat on his back.

Tsuna broke down crying, hugging them tightly. Seeing the look on his minion's faces, Mukuro realized there was no way in hell they'd let him get away with simply dumping the fluffball in some home. They were too attached...and if he would admit it to himself, so was he.

"Kufufufu..."

* * *

It was them again. Those mafioso were back.

He was still so pissed off with his old man...why the _hell_ hadn't he warned his mother that he was in the damn mafia, much less set up protection?

The Vongola? Don't make him laugh.

How could he possibly trust a family that couldn't even be bothered to protect their own heir, much less those who depended on them?

Natsu, formerly known as Tsuna Sawada, dodged the attentions of those weaklings with practiced ease.

He didn't know why the Vongola's little Outside group, commonly known as CEDEF, was even looking for someone fitting his old description, but he sure as hell wasn't trusting any mafioso.

Not after what the Esterneo did to his mother, and to his brothers.

"Oi! Natsu! Over here! Check out our haul!" shouted Ken.

Natsu smirked.

"It's good... but check out mine~!" said Natsu grinning.

Ken swore, using a variety of languages. After joining up with Natsu (their self-proclaimed baby brother...which even Mukuro-sama would admit to) they realized that only knowing Italian was a quick way to end up dead if they wanted to ditch the mafia in another country.

So they learned Japanese while teaching Natsu Italian. He must have had some knack for languages or his dad was Italian, because he picked it up very quickly. So much so that he spent most of his time in the public libraries learning other languages. Between him and Chikusa, they could reasonably speak or at least understand five languages other than the two they started with.

"The scraps of the Vongola are back," Natsu warned them.

"Tch. Again? Why do they have such a hard on for you anyway?" asked Ken complaining.

"Who knows. Like I'd trust that weak family," said Natsu dismissively.

"I take it today was a successful venture?" asked Mukuro amused.

Between Ken's fast speed and Natsu's natural aura, they were able to survive on their own. Adults couldn't be trusted, ever.

The first time an adult tried to worm his way into their good graces (or more specifically into Natsu since he looked naturally naive), the smallest of the group had bitten him so hard they learned several new swear words. And then Ken went after him on Mukuro's orders.

That was the day the group learned one thing.

When Natsu's intuition told him something, it was never, ever wrong. Even when it told him to do something he normally wouldn't consider, like taking a certain alley at an exact moment.

They'd evaded more than a few of the less savory familigias by following him. Mukuro might be their "leader", but more often than not it was Natsu who held that position.

It was close to when they were finishing the results of their haul that it happened.

"Ciaossu."

Natsu took one look at the small baby with the lizard on his hat in black...and bolted faster than they had ever seen him.

They didn't need any warnings. If that "kid" made Natsu run like hell in another direction, then clearly he was trouble.

Mukuro managed to stick close to Natsu, and he did _not_ like the fact that the baby was following them specifically.

Damn mafioso were after Natsu again, and this time they sent a threat they definitely couldn't handle.

Mukuro made a decision that would haunt him for a long time...

"Run. Whatever you do, don't stop running. We'll meet up with you once I'm certain the coast is clear of whoever that is."

Natsu looked at him...before something passed between them.

He knew Mukuro had the limited ability to read minds, especially this close. He trusted his big brother.

Mukuro leveled so many illusions around himself, that the fake baby didn't even realize he had passed right by Natsu.

One of the things Natsu had shared with his brothers was his old home address. It was one thing he refused to give up, no matter what was done to him.

Even if he could never go back there without experiencing the terror and pain of the scene he had walked into.

The agreement was that if anything happened and they got split up, that they meet up in Namimori in one year. More than enough time to alter their appearance and make it there.

Once assured that the fake baby wasn't anywhere near, Natsu immediately changed his appearance with the ease of long, long practice. His hair was dyed a red color, his skin was darkened using some plants he found, and his clothes were burned up so they couldn't get his scent.

He was gone before the "baby" known as Reborn realized he had been thoroughly tricked enough to backtrack.

* * *

Natsu was trying to sleep on a tree branch when he felt something land on it. Within an instant he woke up, saw red and tried to jump to another tree and get down so he could run like hell.

Tried being the operative word. His hand slipped and he almost fell flat on his ass...had something not grabbed his belt at the last second.

" _Easy, little Sky. I mean no harm."_

He slowly got back onto the tree, before looking down.

Unlike the first baby with the yellow pacifier, this one didn't set his instincts off to run like hell and not look back.

Oh, there was an undercurrent of "danger" and "beware", but it wasn't nearly as overpowering as the first one.

" _I was trying to sleep. Stupid mafioso keep tracking me down if I use the caves,"_ grumbled Natsu in the same tongue.

The red baby blinked, before a serene smile came upon his face. He was clearly surprised and pleased Natsu knew how to speak Chinese that well.

" _Your Flames are leaking rather strongly, which is likely what lead them to you,"_ he informed the boy.

" _Who are you?"_

" _My name is Fon. I was sent to find out why so many of the loose Elements had suddenly taken to trespassing on my clan's land of late, since it was irritating the Elders."_

Natsu felt a little guilty about that.

" _Sorry. I was just trying to find a place to sleep until I gathered enough food to keep going."_

" _What are you running from, little Sky?"_

If there was one thing that set off the protective instincts of an Element, especially one like Fon, it was the knowledge of a younger Flame in danger. That went almost triple if the Flame was a Sky...and from what he could tell unattached.

No Familigia would be stupid enough to let a Sky this young and strong out of their sight for an instant without tracking them down. They were too valuable, and far too rare to waste such a precious Flame.

Natsu didn't know why, but he felt he could trust this person. So he gave him an abridged version of why he was alone.

Fon was silent and let the child speak his piece.

From what he understood, the boy had been targeted deliberately by the Esterneo and lost his mother in the process. During his escape he harmonized with three other boys, one of them likely his Mist Guardian, but was separated when Reborn showed up...not that he could blame the kid for running away from the Sun Arcobaleno. Considering what he had already gone through with the Esterneo familigia, he wasn't surprised the kid's instincts told him to get as far away from Reborn as possible.

The man would have likely handed him over to the Vongola at the very least, considering he was rather close with them. Or one of the Allied familigias.

While they would have treated the boy like a prince, the fact they had recently lost their heir made the entire situation too volatile. Especially since there was a rumor that the head of CEDEF had recently lost his son...they might very well toss the child with them to shut the idiot up.

Fon patted Natsu on the head. It was clear he hadn't had an easy life since the mafia crashed into it.

Besides... he wasn't always with the Mafia either.

" _You should become a Hunter."_

Hunters were unaffiliated with any of the Familigias, and couldn't be "forcibly recruited" even if they were a Sky. The Association would come down on any Familigia that tried it like the wrath of the gods themselves.

The agreement came down to the simple fact that as long as the Mafia didn't force any hunters to join their ranks, the hunters would ignore their crimes and everything to do with their world unless they did something so stupid it brought the attention of the police down on them.

Like breaking Omerta.

Then it was merely a question of who would slap down the idiots first... the Association or the Vindice.

You could be both, of course...there was nothing that said a Hunter couldn't be a mafioso. However the requirements to become one were much higher than any other job in the world so most didn't bother.

" _A Hunter?"_

Fon took out something that had the boy relax around him completely. It was his Single-Star Hunter's license... one he got after finding obscure martial arts and sharing them with others. He was a finder of the old ways and he didn't mind taking on students.

Besides, it enforced his status as a "Neutral" enforcer inside the Triads.

Fon nodded.

 _"As a Hunter you can tell any Familigias trying to recruit you to back off, and they have to respect that or the Association will come after them. Or worse, the Vindice for not honoring the agreement. Not even the Vongola can force a Sky to join them if they have a Hunter's License. However, becoming a Hunter isn't easy. At the very least you have to have some very impressive stamina to get through the exams."_

Seeing he had the boy's full interest, Fon smirked.

Here was a good way to annoy the hell out of Reborn and kill time. The Triads would leave him alone for a while if he said he was training a possible Hunter candidate, which meant free vacation.

" _I could train you to become a Hunter... the age limit is eleven, but I think I can get you up to standards before then."_

" _Is there any way to let my brothers know what I'm doing? Otherwise they'll worry when I don't show up."_

Fon smiled.

" _I can hunt them down and deliver a message."_

It couldn't be that hard to find three boys, and he did hear one of the smaller familigias had taken in a _bonded_ trio recently.

Needless to say they were pretty damn eager to find the obvious fourth, because all of them showed signs of having an Active Sky.


	2. Chapter 2

Mukuro was _not_ happy. Not only could they not leave to find their little brother (because the looks alone the adults were giving about finding Natsu made him murderous) but it looked a lot like his minions were going soft!

Then he found a letter in his "room", and the mere idea of relying on the adults to care for them made his skin crawl.

It was Natsu's handwriting, and an odd mixture of languages that would take days for the adults to decipher.

Especially since he mixed Japanese Kanji with the similar Chinese writing.

Mukuro deciphered the letter with ease, and his laughter drew Ken and Chikusa to his lair.

Ken brightened upon seeing the familiar code writing of Natsu.

"What does it say?" asked Ken, on edge.

"Natsu found a way to keep these idiots from bothering us anymore. However we'll have to wait before he can track us down."

"He's going to try for the Hunter's Exam," said Chikusa, adjusting his new glasses.

"Hunter?" said Ken.

"Agreement with the Association. They can't force Licensed Hunters to be part of the mafioso against their will. Otherwise the Association has free reign to hunt down the Familigia and arrest them. Or worse, it would be considered breaking Omerta and bring Vindice down on them," supplied Chikusa.

Then again, he was usually with Natsu when they raided the public libraries for knowledge. He picked things up almost as fast as their little brother, except Natsu tended to focus on the languages first.

"Kufufufu... Very well. We shall let our Natsu become a Hunter, if only to rub it in those stupid mafioso's faces that they can't have him. However, I have no intention of trusting these idiots not to keep looking for him. Adults can't be trusted," said Mukuro flatly.

"Adults should never be trusted," came the duo response of the other two. It was a reminder that the adults had tried to break them, but it was a child like them who had Saved them from their hell. Without Natsu they might very well be dead or still in that place.

They could bear the pain of not knowing where he was if it meant keeping him safe from the greedy adults.

* * *

Fon's clan took the news of a young Flame Active child in their territory well enough. Claiming the boy had an unusually strong Flame was enough for the Elders to drop the matter when Fon also declared his intent to train the child into becoming a Hunter. He was only a year or so away from the age limit to make an attempt at the Exam, and if he failed (and survived) then they could always fold him into the clan after.

Besides, Fon was overdue a vacation, and training a child as a Hunter was an acceptable reason to go off the grid.

Natsu was a bright little child, and Fon would hate to see the boy tainted further by being forced into the mafia more than he already had. Especially since he lost his mother in the process.

He didn't complain about the hard journey to a secluded area with several caves. It was deep enough that any Flame training (because the boy definitely needed it if he was leaking Sky Flames that even the idiots Fon drove off noticed it) would go completely unnoticed, and hard enough to get to that anyone attempting to abscond with the child would be found long before they reached him.

Fon sat down and had Natsu copy him. He sat in a seiza position, which was a bit harder to get used to...if you were from the West. Good thing Natsu openly admitted he had been taken in Japan, from the same town Fon's grandson Kyouya was in.

At least now Fon had an explanation for why the boy was so pissed off even before he found out his grandfather was in the area last time he visited. One of the smaller animals in his territory had been taken on his 'watch', someone who attended the same school.

As a Cloud, the blatant attack on his territory would have angered the child immensely. On the plus side, he didn't threaten to "bite" Fon to death when he offered extra training in his tonfa. Because if he couldn't protect one of the small animals in his own ground, then how could he expect to beat Fon in a fight?

Natsu seemed to relax considerably when Fon switched from Chinese to Japanese. The boy had been taken from his home for almost four years ago after all.

" _So little one, exactly what sort of Hunter would you become if you got your license?"_

" _Um... I like languages? I always pick up on those before Chikusa, and we have a lot of fun switching them around to confuse Mukuro-nii and Ken until they picked up on it."_

Fon's smile widened.

" _I can work with that. There are Hunters who track down forgotten history and return them to their rightful place for everyone to know. Learning languages would be a definite requirement. Or you could become a translator for the magical beasts, since some don't particularly speak human tongues so well."_

Seeing him perk up, Fon had little doubt the boy would make an excellent Archaeology Hunter. He was small, fast and had a knack for languages. And if he had decent Guardians, then they could protect him while he hunted down history and made a name for himself, far, far out of the dark underworld.

" _How about a little game while I train you then? Every three days we'll speak in one language. The fourth day we switch to a new one, with the seventh being the day we stick to Japanese."_

Natsu visibly perked up at that. He liked those sort of games.

" _And if you don't know a language, I'll repeat it in a language you do know so you can learn them."_

Fon felt something inside him sit up and purr at the sight of the boy's smile. He could practically see the sparkled and flowers around the kid. It only reaffirmed his desire to keep this still innocent child far, far away from the darkness of the mafia. The fact he could still smile with such an open heart made him very vulnerable to the worst elements of the society he had lived in since he was very young.

" _First let's see how much you know about fighting,"_ said Fon, shaking himself out of the unconscious Sky Attraction the child was giving off.

He'd see how much he had to work with before he trained the boy in how to reign in his Flames.

The boy was a semi-decent brawler, but it was clear he had no idea how to properly throw a punch. And his kicks were almost sad.

The less said about his physical stamina, the better.

Good thing there wasn't a cut off age for becoming a Hunter, just an age limit to how young you could be. He had a lot of work cut out for him.

* * *

 _Seven years after leaving Namimori..._

Natsu stared at the run down restaurant that the Navigator brought him to. Fon had trained the boy's ass off for two and a half long years until he deemed Natsu met the bare minimum of what the Hunter's Exam would demand of him.

Most of that had been bringing his Flames under control so he could slip past the mafioso...specifically Reborn who was still after him for reasons Fon had yet to find out.

The Storm Arcobaleno didn't want to question the Sun, mainly because he knew damn well that Reborn would get suspicious and likely follow him to find Natsu.

He was given the number "27", which seemed to fit for some weird reason. Good thing he packed a lot of dehydrated food and water...it was going to be a long wait for the rest of the applicants to show up.

He mostly meditated to conserve his rations and kill time.

While he had gained _some_ control over his Flames, and to a lesser extent his ability towards Nen which Fon had only given the bare minimum of basics for stating it was a major requirement to be considered a full Hunter, he still liked to perform the exercises to refine his abilities. The more he could conserve in a fight, the better off he would be.

And then, almost a full four days after coming into the tunnel (apparently the Association wasn't completely heartless and gave them at least two meals and day and a very decent bathroom...though taking turns with some of these people could be murder, literally) he felt something spike on his Flames.

He could feel a Mist nearby. It was soft, and very gentle, but still had the same taste of Mukuro-nii.

His eyes opened, revealing amber orbs instead of the usual brown. He followed the feeling of Mist all the way to a rather timid girl being harassed by a trio of older Hunters.

She really, really reminded him of Mukuro-nii. A female Mukuro at that.

"Leave her alone," he said flatly. His voice alone said he would not hesitate to make their lives hell if they didn't back off.

Considering he had left one particularly dense and disgusting idiot broken and unable to even think of taking the exam after he was accosted in the communal bathroom, the trio glared before backing off.

The girl sighed with relief, and he briefly caught a hint of scarlet in her right eye before her hair firmly hid it from view.

The comparison to his older brother was really hard to ignore.

"My name's Natsu. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied, timidly. She was clutching the strap of her bag pretty tightly. "I'm Chrome."

Natsu approached her like he would a wild tiger... which had only happened once, but Fon sure as hell never let him forgot what an idiot he was going that close to a pissed off tiger.

The fact the female didn't maim him was a moot point. Especially when Fon caught him cuddling with her little cubs a few days later with her giving Fon a look that practically _dared_ him to get that close to her babies.

Natsu gently took Chrome's hand with a warm smile. Something inside her relaxed and she let him lead her to where he had been meditating.

"Stick with me and I'll make sure none of the adults bother you. The Hunter Exam might not be exactly safe, but no one should worry about being assaulted during it," he said.

Chrome looked relieved, and stayed by his side, even when a boy who was a year or so younger than them walked over.

"What did you do to get those losers to back off?" he asked with interest. "I'm Killua."

"Natsu," he replied, holding out his other hand for Killua to shake. This was the only other Mist he had felt in the area, but it had avoided him for some reason...that and the taller Hunters blocked his view of who it was. He had a double feel of Mist and what Fon had told him Clouds felt like. "Chrome isn't the only one the perverts in this exam targeted. I beat the crap out of one moron two days ago when he thought he could corner me in the communal bathrooms."

"Wait, that was you?! Oh man, that was awesome! That guy had been leering at me for hours before he started screaming and I was just about to do something about the idiot!" said Killua with open appreciation.

Chrome curled a little closer to Natsu at the reminder that not everyone in this exam was nice. He squeezed her hand comfortingly.

Natsu smiled at Killua, who felt his heart do a weird flip-flop as something uncurled inside him. It definitely wasn't a crush, because he could tell that much. But there was something about Natsu that said sticking with the teen was a good idea... that better things would happen for him if he did. Clearly Chrome, the girl, felt similar because she didn't stray far from him at all.

Killua and Natsu had a lot of fun sharing their favorite manga, with Chrome shyly chirping in on occasion. She wasn't really allowed to read such things, and Natsu was quick to share the tablet he brought with him that had several series loaded on it.

So what if the older, more experienced applicants were sneering at them? Especially since all three were clearly rookies?

It wasn't until near the end of the application phase that Natsu suddenly perked up, his instincts telling him to pay attention to the last possible applicants.

Killua and Chrome took immediate notice, without even recognizing that they were instinctively following Natsu's lead.

At first glance, the three that came down looked ordinary enough, and clearly rookies like them.

But they didn't sense the same thing Natsu did.

The tall one with the sunglasses had a sunshine feel, and was clearly a Sun Latent. He had a perverted feel, but that was more of a mask.

The middle one with blond hair felt distinctly like a Cloud with hints of Mist. He was clearly holding some sort of pain from his past, one that made Natsu emphasize with him without even asking. There was a controlled anger that would have made Fon look with approval. He had a vendetta, but he was keeping it under control until the source of his ire appeared.

The third one... the third one was clearly an Active Lightning with a Sun secondary. Not that he was likely aware of it... he was definitely civilian and had the sort of naive nature Natsu wished he still had. But he had a similar honest nature that shone through so strongly it was impossible to hate him.

"You sense it too?" asked Killua quietly.

"Yeah. I think our best bet to pass would be to stick with those three closely," said Natsu. He was already packing without thinking, and noticed Chrome was staring at the blond with an odd expression.

Almost like she knew him, but at the same time she didn't.

She shook her head right before the alarm went off.

A few moments later, they were all trying to play follow-the-leader with the examiner. Chrome clearly hadn't expected this, and there was little chance she could keep up with her physical condition.

It didn't take a genius to recognize she was attempting to use the Hunter's Exam to get out of an abusive home life. Natsu could commiserate... he was only here to get the damn mafia off his ass.

Seeing her about to collapse, Natsu grinned and winked at Killua who was watching with open amusement as he ducked under her and put her on his back.

"Eep!" she squeaked with with surprise.

"I'll help you out on this phase and you can help me out on the next one. Besides, this counts as my daily strength training," said Natsu cheerfully.

She nodded, embarrassed but didn't argue.

Natsu noticed the look the examiner was giving him as they ran to the front of the pack, and she burrowed into his neck when she realized several of the older applicants were glaring at them both.

"I should disqualify you both," said the examiner quietly.

"You said we had to follow, not the method. Nothing prevents us from teaming up or helping each other," Natsu said equally quiet.

The older man said nothing, but Natsu could feel his approval for his kindness to the weaker girl. If she could keep up with the rest of the exam, there was no reason she couldn't become a Hunter. Not all of them were suited for field work, after all.

He sensed an amused Killua come up with the Lightning kid from earlier.

"Hi, I'm Gon!"

"Natsu, and this is Chrome. Don't mind her, she's a bit overwhelmed because the old geezers behind us are jealous someone's not giving them a piggy back ride too!" said Natsu loudly.

The killing intent tripled and Natsu grinned. Killua was openly trying not to laugh his ass off at them.

To be fair, most of them were assholes anyway.

"So how old are you Gon?" asked Natsu.

"Eleven!" he said proudly.

"I'm fourteen," said Natsu.

"Thirteen," said Chrome quietly.

Gon had a bright smile, one that Natsu was quick to reciprocate. That seemed to make him much happier, and he had to smirk at Killua pretending to gag.

"Dear god the sparkles and flowers are stupid..." he muttered. Natsu couldn't help but laugh.

"Mukuro-nii said something similar whenever I turned the puppy dog eyes of doom on him and made him cave into doing something silly," said Natsu. He didn't even bat an eye when he saw the stairs, which seemed to stretch on forever.

It said a lot about Fon's idea of training that he was able to carry Chrome all the way outside, without once breaking his stride. To be fair, she was ridiculously light.


	3. Chapter 3

**I LIVE! Sorry folks, it's been a rather unpleasant month and my mother just got out of the hospital.**

* * *

Chrome didn't argue when Natsu picked her up again and instead made herself useful despite the obvious princess carry he was using to keep an eye on his unprotected back. Earlier they had been too busy trying to run and keep up to go after the two of them, but with the fog they could easily attack them both. They managed to make it right to the second stage along with Killua.

Natsu barely looked winded, but only the examiner and a few others could tell he had been cheating by using Nen to augment his natural strength. That and a healthy dose of Sun Flame to keep the exhaustion at bay.

The examiner gave Chrome a long look.

"I'll allow you to pass this part of the exam... but you'll have to carry yourself from here on out," he warned her.

"I know," she said with a hint of shame. She was weak, even she knew that.

"It's not your fault Chrome. You're a Mist, and they generally suck at hand to hand combat and long runs like that," Natsu told her.

"A...Mist?"

"Your specialty is illusions and conjuring, not the sort of running and hiking we just did. You're like the fog that surrounds this area... you beguile and lead the unwary to their doom while protecting your friends. Hell, Killua is like that except he's been trained to handle the big weakness of Mists," said Natsu.

Killua blinked at him.

"What?"

"Which is the only reason I'm allowing you to pass. It's rare for a... Mist... to be able to handle such things, but considering who you've attached yourself it's a barely acceptable pass," said the examiner before disappearing.

Chrome looked very confused, and to a lesser extent so did Killua.

"I'll explain while I make some tea," said Natsu, having already read the sign on the door. It was barely ten, they had another two hours before they opened.

He made sure to make a large pot of hot water, because he had the feeling the trio from earlier would make their own way to them. Even if that creepy Hisoka showed up and dumped Leorio at his feet.

"So what was that Mist thing about?" asked Killua, in a low voice. He wasn't a tea drinker but the caffeine was good.

"Mist Flames. There are certain people who have soul fire, or what the underworld calls 'Dying Will Flames'. One of the seven is Mist, or the ability to create illusions, among other things. Creating something from nothing, and bewildering the enemy of the ones they've allied to. That is the role of the Mist Element," said Natsu, paraphrasing something Fon told him.

"Sound interesting..." said Killua, perking up.

"Imagine creating a hall of mirrors with nothing but your imagination and striking from the shadows, or a bamboo thicket so real that you could send tigers out of nowhere to maul whomever's attacking. That's perfectly in line with a Mist Flame...though generally they have the weakest stamina of them all, relying on the strength of their imagination and belief to fight."

"What are the other six?" asked Killua. "You said there was seven."

Natsu thought of how to explain this, before he hit upon the perfect example to make it easier.

"Do you play MMO's?"

Killua nodded.

"My brother plays them more, but I've played _Warcraft_ before."

"Alright, then this makes it easier. The other Flames are simple enough to get. There's Sun, which is basically like a Cleric. You know those bad ass monks that can deal tons of damage with staff weapons or hand to hand combat, but at the same time heal their allies? That's basically what a Sun is. Their skill is 'Activation'. Lightning is the tank, taking on the damage of their allies, before redirecting it and dishing it right back to their enemies. Their skill is 'Hardening'. Then there's Cloud, who are the 'lone wolves' who liked to do their own thing, but are majorly powerful when provoked. You know, the guys who are always dominating the solo PVP arenas? Their skill is 'Propagation', which basically means they can multiply things," said Natsu, before taking a sip of his tea.

Killua seemed to be absorbing this new intel like a sponge, and even Chrome was interested.

"Storms are the ones who charge in for attack. Most of them are absolute hot heads who take offense at the stupidest things, but are insanely loyal if you can befriend them. My teacher who suggested I become a Hunter is a really powerful Storm. Their ability is 'Disintegration', which is exactly what it sounds like. I've seen my teacher destroy an entire copse of trees with nothing more than his Flames."

Killua looked really excited at that idea.

"Awesome."

"There's also Rain. Their ability is 'tranquility'. Anything from calming people down to freezing things. They're usually easy going."

"What about the seventh?" asked Chrome.

"The seventh is also the rarest and the reason I'm trying to become a Hunter," admitted Natsu. "Stupid mafioso won't leave me alone because of it."

Seeing he had their attention, he winced.

"The seventh and most prized of the Flames is the Flames of the Sky. Their skill is Harmony."

"That doesn't sound so special," said Killua.

"Skies are the sort of people that others instinctively turn to, especially if they have Active Flames. They can bring people together and give them a sense of 'home' and 'acceptance'. Think of it as some majorly insane charisma close to what Gon seems to have, only majorly overpowered. They draw the other Flames together into a single group, and in exchange they provide a sort of place for the others to ground themselves to."

"You mean like King Arthur and his knights?" said a voice they didn't recognize. Natsu looked up and saw the blond from earlier.

"Exactly," he replied, handing over the other cups. He didn't even notice them showing up. "And in the underworld, Skies are akin to royalty. Which is really, really annoying actually."

Because of that stupid Sky flame, the Mafia wouldn't leave him the hell alone. It was so stupid!

"Are you even allowed to talk about this?" asked Killua. He had mentioned the underworld, and they generally liked to keep this kind of thing quiet.

Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Not in the mafia, and I only found out because they keep coming after me and someone finally took pity and explained _why_. And since I'm still considered a civilian by technicality, their Omerta doesn't actually apply. Besides, it's not like it's anymore restricted than Nen is. It's just that the Familigias have a really, really annoying habit of snatching up Flame Actives when they find them."

Similar concepts, different ability and use. And both sprang from the same source, which was inside one's own body.

They managed to finish their tea long enough for Natsu to at least rinse off the cups and put them away before the buzzer rang. Chrome looked nervous, but was willing to stand tall as long as Natsu was nearby.

Finding out they merely had to cook made her relax considerably. At least until she saw the boars they were expected to kill and cook she gulped. No way could she haul something that big!

Natsu felt a familiar twinge in his head he associated with sharing head space with Mukuro and an idea occurred to him. Maybe Mukuro-nii could give Chrome some help in figuring out Mist Flames? She felt almost as strong as he did, just without the same confidence level.

 _Kufufufu... what an interesting pet you've found, little brother. Perhaps she_ can _be of some use..._

Natsu put his hands on Chrome's shoulders, and she looked him in the eyes. Both of them, which gave him a perfect view of scarlet which was subtly hidden by her hair.

"You can handle this Chrome," he said gently, allowing his Flames to gently allow Mukuro a chance to connect to Chrome.

Chrome took a deep breath, and there was a flicker of kanji in her right eye before it was hidden. Clearly a connection had been established.

"How do I do this?" she asked, though it was clear she was still freaking out.

Natsu walked her through the basics of Mist flames, most of which he learned from Mukuro-nii even though he didn't have a knack for them at all. After a few minutes Chrome eventually figured it out, and soon was able to kill and mostly carry one of the boars on her own.

What the examiners didn't see or realize was that she wasn't _entirely_ doing it on her own. And Natsu wasn't about to enlighten them just yet.

* * *

 _Inside Chrome's mind..._

"Kufufufu... Impressive, little one. Most impressive indeed. Most newly awakened Mists can't control their creations this quickly or as easily," said Mukuro from his spot on a rock.

Chrome had felt scared for a split second when the teen appeared in her mind's eye... but then she realized what his hair style looked like and saw the kanji in his eye and relaxed.

This had to be Mukuro, because who else would have a hair style that looked like a pineapple and two different colored eyes like her with kanji in them?

 _'How are you here?'_ she silently asked. She'd only risk being busted if she asked out loud.

"Natsu has a...special... connection with me that we established some time ago. He asked me to give you some help. But it will come at a price," said Mukuro flatly.

Chrome almost flinched at whatever price this teen would demand.

 _'What price?'_

"Nothing much. You just need to stay by his side until the end of the exam. You see we can't come and find him until after he's passed, because the foolish mafioso are trying so very hard to locate him, especially through us. So we are forced to keep our distance until he's a Hunter."

Chrome relaxed, ignoring the fact Killua was coaching her how to use the knife to properly gut the boar.

 _'Okay.'_

"Kufufufu... Very well, little Chrome. I shall assist you in surviving the rest of this exam, if only to insure my little brother passes. In exchange you shall act as his Mist,"said Mukuro pleased.

Leave it to his little brother to find the perfect vessel for which Mukuro could protect him from a distance. Chrome's Flames were compatible enough that he could share how to control the Mist and assist her in surviving the exam. Of course he would have to downplay most of it until the end... they might very well kick her out if they found out she was receiving outside help.

* * *

 _Three hours later..._

They failed. The female examiner got pissed because of that stupid ninja and failed everyone who had managed to survive the first half of the second exam.

She almost passed Natsu and Chrome, because out of everyone there, only they and the ninja had actually _eaten_ sushi before, let alone knew what it looked like at all. Even if it had taken a bit of trial and error for them to figure out which one she was asking for.

Menchi hadn't been upset about the different types, but had silently been impressed they knew the other types well enough to make them.

Seeing the old man come down from the blimp gave them hope, and Chrome had to make a choice.

Jump down the side of an open cliff, or stay up where it was safe.

It wasn't much of a choice really. If she wanted to get away from her... mother... and finally be free, she had to be a hunter. Besides, Natsu believed in her.

"Kufufufu... Very good, little Chrome..."

Bolstered by the approval of Mukuro, and by Natsu's very presence, Chrome was able to catch the updraft enough to 'fly' back up, even if Natsu was quick to grab her hand so she didn't fall a second time.

Her cheeks were flushed from excitement and the joy she had done something that the old her would never have dared on her own. She held Natsu's hand tightly, bolstered by the courage of actually passing the second phase on her own merit.

* * *

Natsu was enjoying the ride, letting Chrome use him as a pillow. The excitement of jumping off the cliff as well as the past few days was a bit overwhelming for her, but the flush of pride on her face was hard to miss.

He had the feeling Mukuro-nii was giving her more instruction on the Mist Flames they shared while she dreamed.

"She might look like a stiff breeze could knock her over... but those creations of hers were pretty good," said Killua, walking up.

"You do realize you have the same ability, if you were able to wake it up," said Natsu.

Killua blinked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you have a Mist Flame, with a good chunk of Cloud. At least that's how it feels to me. It's still sleeping though," said Natsu.

"What about me?" asked an excitable Gon.

"Lightning with a healthy dose of Sun. Means you're quick to jump into things, stubborn as hell and will heal really fast," said Natsu immediately. "However unlike Killua it feels like your Flames are more on a really low burn, meaning they're Active, but not yet Useful because you haven't had the training for it."

Killua snorted.

"Sounds about right," he said. Even this limited exposure to Gon said much of the same, except for the active part.

"If we have a chance, I can give you a basic idea of how to properly harness your Flames. I get the feeling it will make you even harder to kill, which can only be a good thing since we're around that creepy Hisoka and the like for the next few weeks at least."

Gon shivered at the idea of Hisoka and nodded in agreement. But at the same time he felt something uncurling around Natsu. Like there was something about the older teen that made him relax.

It was around that time that the chairman speed past them, causing the trio to whip their heads towards him, and Chrome to wake up in surprise.

"Ohohoho... care to play a game, young ones?"

Natsu couldn't help but think of the cryptic message the Chairman had given him once Gon knocked himself out. Chrome was in a similar state, though in her case she was a bit more shaken up.

He wondered what the old man meant when he said that he couldn't keep running away forever from the Mafia or his inevitable fate. The very idea that his past was quickly catching up to him worried Natsu greatly.

Chrome was more worried about the fact that Netero had obviously realized she had an 'extra' in her head, but had kept his silence. Though she was more confused by the cryptic message that the burden she carried would need to be shared and soon with one of her fellow applicants.

No one knew of what she carried in her satchel. No one could possibly be allowed to know.

It was bad enough she found out after the surgery _exactly_ what sort of sick thing her so-called _mother_ had in that horrible collection of hers. Her right eye twinged, and she made sure it was firmly covered by her hair.

She could still hear the echo of screams.


	4. Chapter 4

In a twist of fate, Chrome was separated from them by accident and forced to make her own way, alone, down the tower. She honestly didn't know there would be _doors_ under her feet, and she had no way to go back up.

Shivering at the thought of going down on her own, she could only feel relieved when she felt Mukuro's mind smoothly join her own. Almost like he was holding her hand the same way Natsu did when she was scared. She heard that strange chuckle of the older illusionist and prepared to make her way to the bottom.

Mukuro wouldn't help unless absolutely necessary, but he would remain in the back of her head to give her some comfort as she descended. His little brother would never let him hear the end of it otherwise.

* * *

Natsu let out a nervous laugh when he realized that he had fallen in with the others. So much for being separated.

He was perfectly content to let the others lead the way, since he had no idea what he was doing. He wasn't that big a fan of mazes and dark places...it reminded him far too strongly of the labs. He bit back the memories of that place and tried not to let the echoes of it overwhelm him.

Seeing the arena really didn't help.

"You alright, Natsu?" asked Kurapika.

"Yeah... just a lot of bad memories with a place similar to this," said Natsu quietly. Seeing the others look at him with concern, he shook his head. "It's nothing."

So they had to win most of their fights against the five convicts across from them. He could handle that.

Leorio was so amped up he went first. Except it didn't exactly end well for him... he barely survived and came back bleeding heavily. It was clear if they didn't do something he'd bleed out, or at the very least fail this phase.

Natsu took Leorio's hand, and he looked really, really pale.

"Leorio, listen to me. I'm going to coach you into awakening your Flames."

He was breathing really heavily, but Natsu had his full attention.

"I want you to focus on something. I want you to focus all of your conviction on something so strongly you'll be willing to lay down your life for it," he said gently. Kurapika shot him an odd look. "Considering you're this injured it should bring your Latent Flames into active, or close enough. Now try to concentrate on that one thing until you feel something wake up. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," he said weakly.

His breathing was getting worse, and for a few minutes Natsu was worried he might not be able to pull it off. Except he could feel the spark of Sun he had felt from the other end of the tunnel when he first say them wake up and begin to blaze into a decently sized fire. Natsu used his Sky to gently coax Leorio's Sun flames to the worst damage, and the older man's breathing got a lot easier... even if his side did have a thin coating of yellow fire dancing along the edge of the wound.

Natsu didn't notice or care that he had accidentally harmonized with Leorio.

Killua watched with interest, as did Gon once he returned having won his match.

Kurapika was in a foul mood, and he became downright pissed when the idiot he faced mentioned Spiders. He came back blazing with fury, but it was contained and he didn't take it out on them. He checked on Leorio and was relieved to see the man making a decent headway to mending.

"I'll go next," said Natsu. He did _not_ want to face whoever the hell was hiding in the shadows behind the other four.

Except Kurapika's opponent was totally playing dead. Natsu wasn't fooled for a minute.

"If you're going to pretend you're dead, I'll be happy to shove your ass off the arena," said Natsu flatly.

Ken was a much better actor with his Possum Channel, as stupid as it sounded.

Feeling him about to fall off the edge, the man sprang up, scrambling from where Natsu was deliberately nudging him over with his foot. Mukuro would be so amused if he saw this!

Seeing the lone female, Natsu got a really, really bad vibe from her. And then he figured out why.

She played the most irritating headgames, and unlike Mukuro she wasn't very good at them.

"How about this... Why don't we bet on whether I'm a girl or not?" she purred.

Natsu gave her a flat look.

"Really? Fine, I'll bet thirty hours you're a girl."

"Want to verify?" she said in a sultry voice.

"Not a chance in hell. My mother would come after me if I were to even think of trying something like that. I don't disrespect women," said Natsu bluntly. And realized he made a mistake at the look in her eyes.

"A mama's boy are you?"

Natsu growled, and it brought the attention of everyone on him.

"Do. Not. Bring. Up. My. Mother."

The woman smirked.

What happened next was something of a blur for Natsu, but he really couldn't be brought to give a damn about whatever he did to the old hag who bad mouthed his lost mother.

Sending her flying into little "friends" with a single punch was the _least_ he could do to the bitch. Even if it did cost them fifty hours.

"You okay?" asked Gon worried.

"I'll be fine," said Natsu with a hollow voice.

"Looks like I'm up," said Killua. To be fair, he was picking up a lot of agitation and rage from Natsu and was somewhat eager to let some of it out.

Natsu didn't really come out of his depression until it came time to help haul Leorio past the dead body into the room they had to stay in. Once the door closed Kurapika looked Natsu in the eye and he barely refrained from flinching.

"What exactly did that woman do to set you off? And don't lie... I recognize the signs of barely directed rage when I see it," said Kurapika.

Natsu took a deep, somewhat calming breath.

"When I was about seven and a half I came home to find my mother dead on the floor and I was kidnapped before I could even go to her. We had no warning of the danger and I only found out after the fact that my father is likely in the mafia and he left us without any protection. At all. I was forced into a lab where I was experimented on by some truly depraved bastards along with three others, until we were able to break free and escape almost two months later," said Natsu in a dead voice, like he wasn't really there.

Gon's eyes were wide, but Killua had sympathy in his expression.

Kurapika said nothing, but let Natsu lean into him with a hug. He could feel a lot of tears that he was having trouble controlling.

"The guards at the facility I was trapped in liked to laugh about how 'easy it was to capture a Vongola'," said Natsu quietly. "If it wasn't for Mukuro-nii and the others, I doubt I would have been able to take it...even if it did take them a bit to figure out how to speak Japanese."

"What happened to them? The people who took you I mean?" asked Killua.

"If they aren't among the dead when Mukuro-nii got through with the facility while we escaped, then they better hope to hell I never see them again," said Natsu bluntly. He saw open approval in Killua's eyes for it.

"What the hell was that stuff you coached me into using?" asked Leorio. His color was much better, but he was still a bit wobbly.

Natsu's expression cleared up a bit, glad for the change of subject.

"They're called Dying Will Flames. Think of it as 'soul fire' if you want. They're the manifestation of your soul, brought forth into fire into seven different types. The one I sensed and showed you to bring out is the yellow flame, known as Sun. You wanted to become a doctor, right?"

Leorio nodded.

"It's why I'm here. Hunters don't have to pay large amounts to get into basic medical school."

"Well good news, because with Sun Flames are generally used to heal people. Think like a cleric from a game, except the only limitations are your own imagination and belief," said Natsu helpfully.

Leorio definitely perked up at that, and cheerfully accepted the protein bars Natsu still had.

"What sort of 'Flame' do I have?" asked Kurapika, almost joking.

"Cloud, with a decent Mist. Pretty much the opposite of Killua, though he seems to have an almost even mixture of both."

"How exactly do these Flames work?"

Natsu blinked.

"I honestly have no idea. All I know is that they're called 'Dying Will' for a reason, and that the mafia has a tight control over them to the point they've been hunting me down for years because I have a rare one," said Natsu honestly. He looked depressed for a moment. "And because of those stupid Flames, my Mukuro-nii and the others have been forced to act far in the shadows since being around them would only draw those jerks straight to me."

"Bigger numbers means more people to track, and a higher chance of someone slipping up," said Killua.

"But they can't force a Hunter to join their stupid Familigias, so that's why I'm here. To force them into backing off, or at least give myself some breathing room. I really don't like the mafia that much."

And he had the lowest opinion of the so-called "strongest" family. He heard via Fon that they had lost two heirs already and the third was missing, with a fourth having been "put on ice" because he got pissed with the current head and went after him.

Why the hell would he want anything to do with a group of people who couldn't take care of their own, much less their Family?

Fon completely agreed with him, which was ironic mainly because of who he also worked for. Then again even the Triads kept better care of their heirs.

The Vongola losing _three_ in such quick succession only proved Timoteo had lost his damn mind, and was overdue for retirement. Enrico had been MORE than old enough to take on the mantle, and yet the old fool hadn't passed down the titles because of some technicality like not having enough Guardians.

And it was very clear Enrico had zero idea of what a Guardian bond actually was, otherwise he might have courted the required Flames.

Leorio, having finished the protein bars, looked at Natsu with concern.

"Wait, you said the mafia controls these Flame things, right? So won't they come after me later?"

"Again, they can't force Hunters to join them otherwise the Association will come down on their ass, along with the group that more or less acts like an unofficial police for the underworld."

Killua shivered.

"You're talking Vindice."

Natsu nodded.

"Those guys are beyond creepy as hell," said Killua. He had only seen them _once_ because of his family... and once had been enough.

He was terrified they would come again and take his sister from him, because apparently her ability wasn't just Nen, but also whatever the mafia used. Her widespread death rate had drawn those _things_ to them.

Which meant Alluka was under a much, much tighter watch as a result.

The only way she would ever be free would be if they somehow found a "Sky" to harmonize with her, which wasn't damn likely because the Vindice had made it clear that if she went on a rampage again they would take her.

And with how rare they were, and her power levels... she was essentially trapped in a prison.

It was part of the reason Killua had left, because he was so damn pissed his parents had quit trying to help her.

"So how exactly do you awaken these Flames anyway?" asked Killua.

"Like I told Leorio. You have to want something so bad you're willing to die for it. It helped he was very, very close to dying at the time," said Natsu.

"So bad I wouldn't hesitate to risk everything, huh?" said Killua, mostly to himself. After a few moments, his hands burned with an indigo and violet fire.

"Wow!" said Gon impressed.

"Remember, I said you were Active already Gon. You just have to find the right resolve to manifest them properly."

Gon grinned at him, before he thought about his own resolve. Almost as quickly as Killua, he had green fire with splashes of yellow in his own hand.

Kurapika could already see where this was going. He sighed, before he thought of his own resolve. He would retrieve the lost eyes of his clan and give them a proper burial or die trying... and with that, his eyes shifted to scarlet and his hands were full of a violet fire with light hints of indigo.

Natsu grinned at them all. His head and hands erupted into a warm orange color, and the room filled with the gentle feeling of his Sky aura.

* * *

Unknown to the five, up in the observation room Lippo was choking on his drink as they managed to manifest Dying Will Flames so easily and with a Sky in the room to boot.

"Someone get Netero on the phone now! I want to know why the hell no one told me a damn Sky was in this exam!"

There were more than a few handful of Flame Actives in his Tower! He didn't need them accidentally harmonizing with some brat and causing untold trouble trying to get to him!

The fifty hours they lost passed quickly. Mostly because Natsu spent a good portion of it coaching the other four in what little he knew of how to use Flames. Killua, being a Mist primary was quick to pick up on the little tricks Mukuro had taught Natsu out of boredom. Just as Leorio and Gon were very, very quick to pick up on how to use their Sun flames to heal. Considering Hisoka had expressed an open interest in Gon, he'd need the advantage of quick healing and being able to harden his skin to survive.

Sadly Kurapika had the most trouble, though he did manage to get the chain connecting his bokken to become a bit longer by propagating the chain links.

From there it was a major race to get to the bottom. Natsu could only hope Chrome managed to get to the bottom by herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chrome was not having a good day. Scratch that, her past two days had been _horrible_.

First she got separated from Natsu and the others, and now she was stuck at the bottom with a bunch of creeps. Which was why she decided to do something that could only be called suicidal and stupid.

She sat very close to the "creepy magician" Hisoka. Though never within his hearing.

Hisoka had given her an odd look.

"Rather courageous of you, little kitten," he purred. Just hearing it made her shudder in disgust.

"I'd rather have to deal with a known sociopath than worry about the rest of them trying to pull something when I try to sleep," she told him flatly. Her voice was tinged with exhaustion.

Hisoka looked openly amused.

"And what makes you think I'm even trustworthy, little kitten?"

"You're not, but at least I know you're not even remotely interested in assaulting me while I'm trying to rest. If you want me dead, then I'll die and there's nothing I could do to stop you," she said in a flat voice. She could tell Mukuro was face-palming, but even he acknowledged it was safer with a known threat than risking trying to rest away from the murderous magician.

It really didn't hurt her case that Hisoka had shown _zero_ interest in trying to kill her at this point. She was too weak to be of any real interest. And they both knew it.

Hisoka chuckled in a rather terrifying manner.

"Very well little kitten. I'll keep the others away while you attempt to sleep."

He was so going to spike his killing intent at random just for his own amusement.

Chrome slipped into unconsciousness...and no one noticed the kanji in her right eye. Unknown to everyone, Mukuro briefly took possession of her body so she could get some proper rest. So long as no one saw her right eye, which considering he had coached her into making an eye patch to hide the scarlet eye made it highly unlikely they would, no one would know it was the more murderous teen in control.

A few hours later, and ignoring Hisoka's attempts to be annoying, Mukuro heard a very odd sound. However it was the feel of the Flames that had him barely avoiding one of his signature chuckles.

He knew Natsu's Flame anywhere...and from the feel of it, he had coaxed some of the other applicants into becoming Active. He didn't doubt they were well on the way to harmonizing. This exam seemed to be the perfect ground to spark fast bonds between Flames.

Life and death situations tended to create lasting bonds of trust, after all. Chrome certainly bonded with Natsu very quickly because of it.

Sure enough, Natsu and his group damn near flew out of the slide...thankfully the little Lightning managed to slow them down before they crashed into a wall.

They were less than five minutes from the deadline.

Natsu rubbed the back of his head nervously, before he spotted Chrome.

Except he could tell just from where he was that Natsu knew damn well it wasn't "Chrome" at the moment. He grinned and walked over to where her body was.

"Hey Chrome..." he said, lightly shaking her. Mukuro nudged the girl awake and switched back. Natsu could handle her protection for now.

Chrome blinked twice before she registered who was in front of her.

You could practically feel her relief.

* * *

Lippo was beyond happy that damn Sky brat was firmly out of his tower. It had been a nightmare moving the Flame Actives far out of any possible range the kid had.

They knew something was up, but had no idea a Sky was so close. Netero had been entirely unsympathetic to the hassle that kid brought just by existing!

He was far too amused by the news that the boy had coached the four others into becoming Flame Active, or that it was entirely possible that the kid had harmonized with the four in the process.

In short, the entire phase had been a bigger nightmare than he had expected. If he could have, he'd have gladly failed that brat in a heartbeat.

Especially after the boy somehow managed to blow a hole clear through the walls...and to the outside world. It was going to take months to fix the damage!

At least he wouldn't have to pay for it... since the damage happened _during_ the exam by the applicants, the Association would pay for the repairs. Even so, he glared at Natsu the entire time he was present.

"Why is he glaring at me?" asked Natsu to Kurapika.

"I don't know, maybe because you blew a _hole_ clear through the wall outside the tower?" said Kurapika rolling his eyes, pointing at the damaged section. You couldn't see the full extent, but there was some visible from where they were standing.

The ninja laughed.

"You're kidding right? How'd a pipsqueak blow a hole in that tower?"

Killua snickered.

"See for yourself. If you lean from here you can see most of the damage," said the boy, clearly trying not to laugh his ass off.

As if they were moths to a flame, the survivors did in fact lean over just enough to see a clear hole on the side of the building. Some could even see how thick the walls were, which made it pretty damn impressive anyone could create a hole that big.

Of course if they had known that they had been close to the other side of the tower from where the exit point was...

The examiner had plenty of reason to be pissed about the new "window" in his tower.

Several pairs of eyes looked at the very sheepish Natsu.

"Um... oops? I thought I had the control part down... at least I didn't make a bigger one!" he said defensively.

Hanzo, the ninja, looked at Natsu before stating what everyone save for those who had seen it happen was thinking.

"I am so calling bullshit."

"I forgot Master Fon warned me about using that technique indoors!" said Natsu embarrassed.

Hanzo stared at him.

"Fon as in the 'Eye of the Storm'?" said Hanzo.

Natsu slowly nodded.

"Yes? I didn't really care about his titles when I was training with him."

"That's... how the hell did a kid find the Storm Arcobaleno and get trained by him when he's so damn hard to find?!" said Hanzo. Even he knew Fon, because the man was a _master_ in several martial arts Hanzo was particularly eager to bring back to his clan!

"...I still have his contact information," said Natsu helpfully.

"A-HEM!"

Lippo's anger had only risen upon being so blatantly ignored like this. You could practically feel his ire from where he was standing.

Natsu winced. He hoped like hell the guy wouldn't fail him for being nice.

Having to draw lots, Lippo hissed at Natsu "I hope someone makes you choke on that damn badge."

Natsu winced. He clearly earned the ire of at least one of the examiners.

At least he didn't have Gon's piss poor luck. The poor kid somehow drew Hisoka of all people!

* * *

Chrome was feeling nervous. It had nothing to do with the hunting of badges and everything to do with the fact her right eye was practically throbbing, being so close to Kurapika.

It was clearly trying to tell her something, and she kept seeing flashes of a younger blond in her mind's eye. There were so many people...and the screams only became louder.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"It's nothing. I think I got something in my eye, probably dust from the lack of care in that tower," she replied.

Kurapika got a bottle of clean water from Natsu. Because of the rocking motion of the boat he couldn't reasonably help her flush it out at the moment, but once they were on land he could find her and help the poor girl out.

At least that was the plan. It took him an hour to find her, and she sat patiently on a rock with her bag clutched protectively to her chest.

"Let's see if we can't flush it out," he said gently.

Except when he exposed the right side of her face and saw the familiar scarlet coloring, he froze.

"Where did you get that eye?" he asked. His voice was perfectly flat and it was clear he was at least willing to hear reason before he went ballistic.

He honestly doubted Chrome had anything to do with the massacre, but she might provide leads.

Chrome flinched and clutched her bag closer.

"My... mother... she has this room I'm not allowed in. Except the door was unlocked one night and she wasn't there. I went in and found something I wasn't supposed to. I couldn't see out of my right eye anymore and the doctors who were nice to me said I would have to get a transplant to even have a hope of seeing again..." she stammered, terrified. It was clear Kurapika was absolutely pissed seeing it.

"What was in the room?"

"Her collection. This was the only one that matched my blood type... I managed to pay for the surgery, and came here to hopefully get away from her permanently," she said, trying not to cry.

Kurapika attempted to take a calming breath. He was only partially successful.

"Were there any others?"

She clutched her bag protectively, as if terrified of letting him see what was inside.

On a hunch, he let his emotions take over and his eyes flashed to a familiar scarlet. She gasped.

"That eye belongs to one of my clan. I have sworn to track down those stolen from the dead and return them to their proper resting place. Please, I need to know if there are any more you know of," he said, trying for calm.

Chrome looked at him, before slowly allowing him to take the bag.

"After the surgery... I could hear the crying from the room," she whispered. "It was too sad..."

Kurapika slowly opened up the bag... and nearly collapsed on the ground in shock and relief.

There were two perfect sets of his clan's eyes, along with a fifth that was partially damaged. There were also papers with names, and other information.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" she whispered, terrified.

Kurapika looked at the thirteen year old girl. It was very obvious she had been heavily abused and had only transplanted the eye to see again. She had no knowledge of what happened, but was psychic enough to pick up on the memories left behind in the eye. He might be pissed at what happened to his clan, but she was entirely innocent of the crime.

"No, I'm not mad at you. In fact I'm thankful. Because of you I can at least put some of them at rest once and for all once the exam is over," he said honestly. He gently put a hand on her cheek, and the right eye started to cry.

" _She's sad..."_ whispered Chrome. She almost seemed to go into a trance state. Then again, if Mists used their mind to create illusions then perhaps the owner of the eye was using her to speak to him.

Chrome seemed to collapse into his arms...and he stiffened when he saw who took over.

He knew that form anywhere.

It was his sister.

" _Big brother!"_

"Kailyn..." he whispered in shock.

He hugged her tightly, glad he even had a fragment of a moment with his sister.

* * *

Mukuro yawned. Helping the little Mist Natsu found was tiring, but being booted out by a dead spirit was annoying. However if it got the damn screaming the girl heard to shut up then he'd ignore it for the moment.

Seeing the annoyance before him, Mukuro sneered. The fools openly thought they could break the trio to find their Sky. He was about to show them the error of pissing him off.

He did feel a modicum of pity for Lancia, but that was overwhelmed by the fact that if he didn't use the man's strength then they'd never be rid of the fools after Natsu.

Mukuro didn't do _mercy_. Though he did show slivers of it. He spared the children and those not in agreement with forcing the trio to find a mystery Sky child. He also made it damn clear to the remnants of Lancia's Familigia that he hadn't been in control of his body at the time. Exaggerated movements, slurred words and the fact he pulled back his massive strength was pretty much a dead give away.

However that was as nice as he was willing to permit. He would _not_ let these losers get their claws into Natsu!

* * *

Chrome felt exhausted, but the screams were a lot softer now. Almost background noise. It felt like a major burden had been lifted off her shoulders and her eye wasn't in pain around the blond anymore.

More to the point, Kurapika had agreed to team up with her until the end of this phase so she had a chance to get her badge. He'd find her target and act as distraction while she got the badge.

She didn't know what happened when she passed out, only that Kurapika looked both sad and relieved at the same time.

She had to ask though...

"Who did the eye belong to?"

Kurapika seemed really sad, and she barely kept herself from hugging him.

"My younger sister. Her name was Kailyn. You would have liked her, I think."

Chrome did hug him then.

"I'm sorry."

Kurapika let out a sorrow-filled laugh.

"Don't be. Thanks to you, I can finally put her to rest, along with two of the others. Those papers you had were the first real lead I've had in over two years on tracking down others. I hope you're not particularly fond of your mother though."

She shook her head.

"She was never my mother," she said sadly. "I'm so sorry I took your sister's eye."

Kurapika's eyes were sad, but very kind.

"You didn't know. I can't begrudge you for wanting to see, and at least I know it went to someone who had no interest in it because it was a _rare_ _commodity_ ," said Kurapika. He spoke the words like a vile disease.

"Um...it's not much... but perhaps I can help you find the others? I know I'm not very good, but two people looking would make things a little easier, right? And I bet Natsu would help the second you asked."

"...Let me think on that," said Kurapika.

He was emotionally drained and overwhelmed. But he did at least know his little sister was at peace and he was able to properly say good bye and _know_ she heard his voice.

It was more than he dared to hope for, considering his vendetta against the monsters who did this.


	6. Chapter 6

Illumi was outright frowning under the pins that kept his face hidden. Killua had somehow awakened the same Flames their little sister had right before everything went to hell. They had almost lost her to those damn mafia guard dogs.

Except his Flames didn't feel erratic or loose at all. He had been around enough Flame Actives to know what an unbound Flame felt like, and Killua didn't.

He felt more like someone who was partially bonded to a suitable Sky. The very rare times he had to deal with bonded Elements with Active Skies felt exactly like his brother.

And that wouldn't do. He had sensed a powerful Flame Active in the group, but hadn't concerned himself with tracking them down.

Clearly that had been a mistake.

Someone had been teaching Killua how to activate his Flames, and others. Someone other than the little Mist girl who suddenly went from barely Active straight into "Useful" over the course of a few hours.

No one got that proficient at Flames without help. And considering this was a Mist he was dealing with, he was betting outside interference. Especially since she also had the same feel as a fully bonded Element to a Sky since the exam started.

Someone in the group Killua was with was an Active Sky. Which meant if anything happened to them, then Illumi would have a massive mess on his hands because there was no way in hell his brother would have any idea how to deal with losing his Sky so early. Not to mention the fact that they couldn't _have_ an heir that was bonded to a civilian. It was simply too risky.

Why did Killua have to be so damn difficult? It was bad enough their sister was never allowed to leave the mansion ever again.

* * *

"How the hell did you take those badges without even me noticing?" asked Killua.

Natsu whistled innocently.

"I 'paid' Hanzo with a favor and Fon's contact information in exchange for the other two badges," said Natsu smugly.

In reality he nailed the brothers with something Fon taught him to mix and agreed to look the other way if Hanzo happened to steal the third badge while at the same time giving the man Fon's contact information. Hanzo was rather amicable about the whole thing and showed open respect at the trick, considering Killua had only noticed the idiots weren't following him an hour after and came looking to find out why.

"...Mind if I have the spare? That idiot was my target."

"Sure. Not like I need the extra points. So now what?"

"...Got anything in that bag of tricks of yours we can play around with?"

"I have a deck of cards and a solar powered charger for my tablet with multiple two-player apps. Take your pick and we'll switch on whoever sleeps while the other keeps watch."

"Deal. I bet I can beat you at poker," grinned Killua.

"You're welcome to try," smirked Natsu.

* * *

Leorio stared at Chrome and Kurapika.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why are you two so cozy? She's not your type is she?" asked Leorio suspiciously.

Kurapika glared at him.

"First off, if you ever insinuate something like that again I will personally deprive you of your ability to procreate in a slow and painful manner. Secondly, she had information about my clan and reminds me of my little sister."

Leorio winced at the threat.

"So did you get your points yet?" asked Leorio.

Chrome nodded.

"Kurapika helped me track him down and distracted him while I got his badge."

"And thanks to you, I was able to secure Tompa's badge."

Leorio twitched at the reminder of how Kurapika used him as bait. Chrome giggled.

"Still I'm impressed. I never would have thought someone like you would survive to the end like this. I think the judges were a bit miffed you basically piggybacked to the second stage."

"From what I understand from the chairman, it's because of Natsu that it was even allowed."

"Say what?"

Chrome sighed.

"Chairman Netero told us on the way to that tower that the only reason I was allowed to pass the first stage was because I had bonded with Natsu. Because he's an Active Sky and I was an unbound Mist before I came to the exam hall, the fact he was the one to help me reach the second stage was allowed because I was showing strong signs of having attached to him as an Element or possible Guardian. Skies harmonize with the other Flame types, and it's not the first time a Sky and his Guardians worked together to complete the exam."

It was _rare_ for a Sky to even take the exam and never had one come without any Guardians or Elements whatsoever.

So there was a precedent. The fact he was openly encouraging Latents to become Actives at their request and bonding with them in the process was highly unusual, but still within the acceptable parameters of the exams.

Even if Lippo was pretty damn pissed with the kid for not only blowing a damn hole in his tower, but flaring his Flames within range of his prisoners.

* * *

Gon was very, very glad Natsu showed him how to use his Flames. Getting hit by Hisoka and that poison _sucked_. Thankfully his Sun Flames were accelerating his healing rather quickly, even if he couldn't harden his skin to avoid the hit Hisoka gave him.

He was up and looking for his friends in a day and a half, rather than the three days it normally would have taken.

He felt like crap, but he had the badges. Even if he swore he'd repay that jerk for making a mockery of the hell he went through just to get his badge when he went on the attack.

At least the animals were nice to him.

* * *

"You are so cheating! How the hell did you land on Boardwalk and Park Place so damn fast?!" said Killua outraged.

Natsu whistled in amusement.

"You're just pissed I put up hotels on those spots and snagged all the railroads at the same time," he said with a smirk.

They were playing Monopoly on the tablet. And Killua was losing horribly. So much so it was hilarious.

"You suck. Idiot behind the tree," he called out.

Natsu calmly flung a rock and nailed the idiot trying to sneak up behind them out cold. He then filched the man's badge, and calmly threw the guy into the creek face up so he wouldn't drown. He drifted off only to wake up downstream...sans his badge.

"That's the third one. Care to try your luck at _Life_?"

"If the way you pwned my ass in _Monopoly_ is any indication I'll not test my luck. What about Gin Rummy?"

"You're on."

They completely ignored the observers from the Association with ease. Though the two men watching them had to sweat drop at the fact the two were treating this like a camping trip.

* * *

Gon went looking and found two of his friends, along with Chrome. Leorio cheerfully used Gon's weird nose to find his target, and went inside to retrieve her badge.

Except things didn't go as planned. Leorio's shout was pretty damn obvious to that end.

Chrome was very nervous, as she hated enclosed spaces. But it only became worse when she realized the trap.

She really, really hated bees.

They were stuck underground with the exam almost over, and the only one to release it was dead from an allergic reaction. And Leorio's target was of no help whatsoever.

They could either rely on something that wasn't very likely to work, considering Gon was almost as badly bitten as Leorio was...or she could cheat.

 _'Help?'_ she mentally asked Mukuro.

"How on earth did you get trapped in a cave with that many snakes?" asked Mukuro baffled. He sighed. "I'll have to take control of your body to pull this off... and tamper with the girl's memories."

 _'Okay. I think Leorio and the others will keep quiet though.'_

"Considering even I can tell they've bonded with Natsu, they better."

"Um... I might have a way for us to get out, but you'll have to keep quiet," said Chrome shyly.

"Why?" asked Kurapika in concern.

"Because I really, really don't want to explain this to the Association," said Chrome. It might get her kicked out of the Exams, and she couldn't afford that. Not when she was so close to getting her license.

"We'll keep quiet," said Gon earnestly.

The girl said nothing, but was openly suspicious of her now. Chrome didn't really feel an iota of pity for what Mukuro had planned. A simple bump on the head would explain the amnesia.

At first nothing happened... but then there was a total shift in Chrome's body language. She went from shy and slightly timid to confident and somewhat cold.

" _Kufufufu..."_

Pokkle was out cold in seconds, and so were her bees. Kurapika wasn't the only one staring in shock as little Chrome suddenly became a much taller teen _boy_ with a pineapple hair style.

" _It's amazing how easily Natsu finds such useful people..."_ said the boy.

Chrome's right eye was fully exposed, but it didn't have the familiar scarlet. Instead there was a blood red orb with strange writing in it's place.

"Who are you?" demanded Kurapika, more than a little disturbed.

The teen smirked.

" _That is not important. What is important is that I can get you out, but my time will be limited. I'm somewhat...busy...disposing of fools trying to use us to find Natsu."_

Kurapika knew he was going to have a...word...with Natsu on who this boy was.

The boy easily lead them past the surprisingly docile snakes, even if he seemed more amused than anything that Gon picked up the girl and carried her out, while Kurapika took Leorio.

Once within view of the cave entrance, the boy's form shifted back to Chrome... and the moment they were outside, she passed out for a few minutes before waking up.

"That was...weird."

"Who exactly was that?" asked Gon.

"Ask Natsu. He introduced him to me."

* * *

"Master Mukuro!" shouted Ken.

Mukuro sneered at the mafioso who had them pinned. Good thing his minions were perfectly capable of protecting him for the brief time it took him to possess Chrome and help her out of that trap.

After all, it was for the protection of Natsu that he even helped her.

It was when they finished off the newest batch of idiots that they appeared. The boogeymen of the underworld.

Vindice.

Mukuro would have felt fear...except he knew the laws. There was a precedent for Elements protecting their Sky, as long as there was a clear danger present.

" _For what reason have you wiped out this family?"_ demanded the 'lead' Vindice.

"They sought to use us to find our Sky, who is currently taking the Hunter's Exam."

Which was entirely true. They didn't seek out these idiots...they were always found first and "taken in" because they were very strong and their Flames burned so brightly. Especially Mukuro.

The Vindice were silent.

" _We shall review your case...however if you have lied to us, we shall throw you into the deepest hole of Vindicare."_

"Acceptable," said Mukuro.

They vanished and didn't come back for almost a week. When they did, it was only for his benefit.

They also made it very, very clear to the Familigias that attempting to use the trio to find their Sky was tantamount to a death sentence because they would not arrest them. After all, Mukuro was only doing his job as a Guardian by shielding his Sky from those that would use him.

* * *

"OH COME ON! How do you keep beating me?!" complained Killua. They were on the beach now, mostly so they wouldn't have to walk there later.

Natsu whistled smugly. Killua glared at him.

"You suck."

"No, that would be your skills at cheating," said Natsu amused.

The glare doubled.

"Want to work on your illusions again?"

"Only if this Mukuro-nii has some better advice. That explanation he gave was way too convoluted for me to take."

Mukuro had gone into some detail about illusions within illusions, and completely lost him. Natsu had a simpler, and far more effective approach for how he could do even a fraction of his tricks.

If you believed you could pull it off and didn't doubt yourself, then you would. The rest was up entirely to your imagination.

After seeing Killua's little doppelganger trick where he looked like he was in several places at once, Natsu recommended a hall of mirrors for his first illusion.

Killua tried it out on one of the other applicants (Tompa) and was so amused by the way he sent the man screaming that he had the most evil grin on his face for hours. It was hilarious.

He didn't really need to specialize in his illusions, but they were a very nice trick up his sleeve, especially when it came to pranks. Natsu had the strong suspicion Killua's sense of humor was just as evil as Mukuro's...or worse, Ken.

If he started with the evil laughter Natsu was going to smack the back of the kid's head. The world didn't need two Mukuro on the loose.

(As he had that thought, Daemon Spade sneezed so hard he sent his burnt dinner all over the place... the Mist swore to get his hands on whoever caused that.)

"How much longer until this phase is over?" asked Natsu.

"Who knows?"

As if summoned by the question, the familiar blimp came into view. The two grinned and made their way back to the landing beach...where they proceeded to cheat like crazy at Go Fish of all things until the announcement came.

Killua knew some fun swears, but Natsu won for sheer variety and creativity.

Hey, he lived on the streets for half his life. Most of the time he was avoiding mafioso. It was only natural he'd pick up more than a few things listening to them bitch and moan about losing a young Sky.


	7. Chapter 7

"I find it fascinating that you've managed to help your friends basically cheat in the exams," said Netero cheerfully. It was great fun watching the young ones find loopholes and more or less cheat to get their licenses.

So long as they didn't get caught, the Chairman wasn't about to inform the committee about what they were doing. He was enjoying himself too much.

Hunter Exams were rather boring, after a point. Not to mention the paperwork.

Natsu whistled innocently.

"I especially like your trick of linking your Mists together and awakening the Flames of your friends. The amount of swearing from Lippo was highly amusing."

"I forgot I wasn't allowed to use that technique indoors..." said Natsu sheepishly.

Netero chuckled.

"It's quite alright. Not like the first time an exam area was badly damaged by an applicant. Now on to business."

Natsu beamed at the old man. He was rather amusing, in his own way.

As he walked out, he gave an encouraging nod to a very worried Chrome who was to go in next.

Netero was rather friendly towards the scared girl, who was still somewhat in shock she made it this far. But then he gave her some news she wasn't expecting.

"Are you aware young lady that as a Bonded Element you would be allowed to choose between living with your guardian or your Sky?"

Chrome startled.

"What?"

"If, hypothetically you couldn't make it through the last part of the exam, you would be allowed to chose to live with your Sky rather than say, your parents. After all, Elements tend to do quite badly when away from the one they're bonded to, and even the police wouldn't be able to refute it. Particularly if said Sky were a Hunter."

"So... Natsu would become my legal guardian instead?"

"Close enough that your mother would have no way of forcing the matter so long as you are properly cared for."

Feeling a spark of hope in her chest, Chrome smiled.

"Of course if you were to come back later, after having quite a bit of training and attempt to take the exam a second time..."

"I'll keep that in mind sir."

Netero chuckled to himself. He could already see what would happen once the final part of the exams happened...and if he set this up right Chrome would be able to come back later when she was properly ready to earn her license on her own merit.

After everyone had a chance to fight of course.

* * *

 _Several hours later..._

Okay this wasn't what he was expecting. Who knew Killua's older brother was in the exam as well?

Natsu didn't get most of what Illumi told Killua, but he knew one thing for sure.

The boy really needed someone by his side right now, if only to calm him down. The amount of suppressed killing intent was practically choking him.

Leorio and the old man went to fight, and Natsu immediately went up behind Killua. He ignored the odd looks he got when he wrapped his arms around him and put his head on top of the slightly smaller boy.

He leaked tiny amounts of Sky Flame out of his body and along the link he had come to realize went straight to Killua, and little by little the kid relaxed in his arms.

"It's okay Killua. We're not going to abandon you because your brother is an ass."

The preteen said nothing, but silently clutched at Natsu's arm as if to draw some level of comfort in to himself.

Neither were aware of the look Illumi was giving them both or of the way he was narrowing his eyes at Natsu specifically.

It seems he had found the Sky who had ensnared his brother.

He would have to remedy that.

Of course no one save Netero anticipated Chrome dropping out of the exam entirely instead of fighting. Though considering the reason she even got this far, none of the more serious applicants were that upset.

* * *

Natsu was about to reach the restroom after the explanation of duties from the chairman when he felt something hit him hard in the back of the neck, knocking him out cold.

Silva was not happy, and Zeno was downright pissed.

This unknown Sky child had managed to bond with Killua, their only real prospect for a proper heir and now they had to deal with the fallout.

Killua had no idea his Sky was in the mansion, or that Illumi kidnapped him.

The only problem was that from what their sources told them, this brat was the last potential candidate for the Vongola. All the others were either dead or "on ice". And if they killed him, not only would it throw Killua off balance but bring the damn mafia on their ass as well.

Which created a rather irritating dilemma.

"How about a test?" suggested Kikyou, her visor glinting.

"What sort of test?" said Silva.

"A test for the little...friends... Killua picked up and to see exactly how loyal this child is to my son. If the bond is new enough it might be easily broken without sending Killua into Discord. If he passes however..."

"Then we ensure that the boy is adequately protected or tell the Sun Arcobaleno where his quarry is," said Silva bluntly.

It was known at this point that the Vongola set Reborn on the loose to find their missing heir and train the boy so that he could become the Decimo.

The man was good, but he had no idea that Natsu had successfully completed the Hunter's Exam or that he had been kidnapped by Illumi. It would take a very long time for him to locate the boy considering all trace of him would have vanished.

Illumi was nothing if not thorough.

"A test then. We'll keep him sedated until we've tried the others," said Zeno. Which gave them plenty of time to discipline Killua for leaving like he had, even if he did become a Hunter on his first try.

* * *

It took very little time for the rag tag group to reach the estate, though it took them two weeks before they could safely get past Mike. The entire time Natsu was out cold, at least to the outside. In reality he was 'inside' Mukuro's head chatting with his brother. He wasn't entirely unaware of the situation, but to be honest he didn't sense any actual malice from Killua's family.

He thought a test was perfectly reasonable, since it was clear they genuinely cared about his well being if they were willing to go this far. He could hear the love in the voice of the parents, which was enough for him to play along.

 _Kufufufu... so these people wish to test your loyalty to their heir?_

"Yeah, but they seemed genuinely concerned about Killua, so they can't be that bad. The weird thing is I keep hearing a little girl calling out for me to come and play with her inside the mansion."

It was clear the little girl was very, very lonely and wanted someone to talk to. Sadly with the Flame suppressants in his system he couldn't reach out to talk. He could barely reach Mukuro and that only because of how strong their bond was.

He was able to send comforting flickers of Flame to Killua, whenever he was able to. Which was usually in between the doses of whatever they were giving him to keep him out cold.

 _Be careful, little brother. We're starting to make our way to Japan at the moment._

"I will, Mukuro-nii. Say hi to the others for me will you?"

 _Kufufufu..._

Natsu felt weird and his mouth was very, very dry. Thankfully there was some untainted water nearby. Fon had been very helpful when it came to detecting things like that using his Flames. It took him a few moments once his head cleared to realize the door was unlocked and he was unbound.

Seeing the rather large number of butlers and odd maid in the halls, Natsu went above and went into total stealth mode.

It took him far too long to figure out how to kill any sign of his presence using Zetsu, a state of Nen where he completely disappeared...even if it left him vulnerable.

People rarely, if ever, looked up. Following the 'feel' of his connection to Killua, he continued 'walking' along the ceiling in complete silence.

He had the feeling the family was watching the entire thing amused.

And then he found Killua, and the second he saw the state the boy was in he saw red with rage and painful memories tried to spring to the forefront.

No way in hell was he leaving him there. And seeing that fat, arrogant pig coming towards him with a whip, he snarled in silence.

He didn't let the first blow land.

The fat bastard was clearly taken off guard, and was faster than he looked. Too bad Natsu was used to someone far superior when it came to speed kicking his ass.

Killua had to blink when he saw Natsu of all people drop from the ceiling and proceed to beat the shit out of his older brother. Most would have told him to stop, but he was enjoying the show too much.

Milluki was a bit of a dick.

He wanted to cry out in alarm when he saw his grandfather enter the room, but there was no time to warn Natsu of the impending attack.

Except Natsu dodged a split second before it landed, and _almost_ launched himself at Zeno. Which would have been fatal if he had. Instead he took up a defensive stance in front of Killua.

The old assassin eyed Natsu oddly.

"Natsu... how the hell did you get in here?" asked Killua slowly.

"Pretty sure we can blame your brother for that," deadpanned Natsu.

Another man entered, and he was very big indeed. Except he was more like the older tales of the giants than "big" like the male examiner of the second phase. Feeling Killua tense, Natsu observed him for a bit.

There was a _lot_ of subtle resemblance to Killua, and the older man did share several features with both.

"You do realize that there's no way in hell you'd survive if they really went after you, right?" said Killua.

"Yeah, but I wasn't entirely unaware of my surroundings when they drugged me. They were openly speaking of trying to mess with our memories earlier."

Seeing the two minutely stiffen, Killua narrowed his eyes at them.

"It seems we need to talk," said the taller man.

Silva sat down on his 'throne' and stared at the tiny teenager in front of him.

The boy had successfully slipped past most of their butlers and into the room before his son even realized the boy was there, and fought with well trained competence.

The way he easily assessed the situation and knew Zeno was too strong for him to take spoke of a good head on his shoulders.

Truly he was more competent than the last three heirs of the Vongola. And the fourth was just a hot head.

"So... you are the one who harmonized with my son and heir," said Silva.

Natsu stared him down without flinching... however there was an odd sort of expression in his eyes.

"And you're someone I might possibly be able to tolerate," deadpanned Natsu.

Silva blinked at the response.

"Excuse me?"

"I know why you had me sedated for several weeks and why you put me through that test. To be honest, I'm actually kind of glad you did."

Silva was not expecting that. He remained silent.

"Because... if you didn't actually care about your son enough to make sure those who got close to him and know they wouldn't try to use or hurt him, then you're not doing your job as a parent right. It's pretty clear you do genuinely love Killua, even if you can't really show it normally because of both your job and because he's a Cloud secondary," said Natsu.

Silva stared at him, and he didn't find even an iota of deception in the boy's words. He laughed.

"You are rather unusual. Most would be terrified of meeting me alone like this. And yet you... nothing. Not even a hint of fear."

"If you wanted me dead, you had more than enough opportunity to do so. And like I said, the fact you went so far to make sure I wasn't trying to use your son is actually rather comforting to know."

"And why is that?"

"Because my father didn't give my mother and I a damn enough to bother putting guards up or visit more than once every other year or so for a week. Because of him, my mother is dead and I was thrown into a mafia facility and experimented on until we had to kill in order to get out," said Natsu, his voice absolutely flat.

Silva gave him a long, level look.

"You don't lie at all, do you?"

"If I lie, then I tend to expect others to do the same. I prefer to give people the benefit of a doubt when it comes to being honest," said Natsu without hesitation.

It was one of the reasons Fon liked him so much. He was honest to the point he was very blunt about what he said.

"Let's say I allow you to leave along with my son. What would you do if he were captured or about to be killed? How do I know I can trust you with my heir?"

Natsu's eyes glowed a warm amber.

"How many pieces would you like his captors to be in? Because if something happened and they tried to use him against me you better believe I'd call in all my Elements to see him freed. I don't abandon family, and I consider all my Elements family," said Natsu without any hesitation or doubt.

Considering the boy was in Hyper Dying Will mode at the mere _thought_ of Killua being used like that, Silva took it as a very good sign.

"I suppose as a show of good faith, I could allow my son to leave with you. But only if he agrees to show that he's willing to put some effort into getting stronger so that he can survive being bonded to a Sky. But if I find out he's been killed or worse because of being around you..."

"Then I will have deserved whatever you come up with," said Natsu.

Silva gave him a penetrating stare...and so did Kikyou from the shadows. Like her husband she didn't sense any dishonesty or lies from the boy. In fact she sensed a very protective aura the second Silva mentioned Killua being taken as a hostage.

Natsu was taken back into a room, and not allowed to deviate from the path. It had an in-suite bathroom and a change of clothes, since he hadn't exactly been allowed to do anything while he was there until now.

Killua was having his own talk with his father, except Silva spoke more about his best friend than the bond between him and Natsu.

Unknown by everyone, a small figure was slipping out of the mansion while everyone was distracted by Natsu and Killua.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a sense of surprise... and a lot of relief, seeing Natsu with Killua. Chrome was the first to tackle Natsu in a hug.

"You okay?"

"I was scared. I thought I lost you," she whispered into his shirt. Natsu patted her head and noticed she had a new toy with her.

"So what now?" asked Gon.

"I have to return to my homeland for a bit to give three of my kinsmen a proper burial and hope that their spirits will be given a release. Then, maybe I'll look into the lead Chrome gave me," said Kurapika.

Natsu suddenly remembered something.

"I almost forgot, there's another part of the Exam that they don't really tell people about when they apply. Master Fon mentioned it and made sure I had some training before he allowed me to try for it."

Seeing the panicked looks of the others, he shrugged.

"It won't take more than a few months to get it down, at year at most. And you can usually ask around for people to train you through the Association."

In the end, they split up into groups. Because of her rather...tense... legal situation, Chrome would travel with Natsu. Gon and Killua would get some training (and some much needed funds) in a tower called the Celestial Sky Arena and refine their skills there. Leorio would return to his hometown and hopefully find someone willing to train him while he was studying for his medical license.

Kurapika would head to his family lands to bury the eyes in the ceremony of his people and hope it would help to free their spirits from the gruesome memories still held in the eyes.

Except he wouldn't be as alone as he originally thought.

"What are you doing?" asked Kurapika.

"Um... I think I should go with you, if only because I think Kailyn would want to be there as well."

"Chrome goes where I go, since I'm technically her 'legal guardian' according to the Association," said Natsu.

Kurapika stared at them both.

"You're going to follow me regardless aren't you?"

"Pretty much. If it helps, I can ask Master Fon for tips in how to awaken your Nen or see if he can direct us to someone who can help. That way you pass the unofficial exam and still have a chance to track down the lead," said Natsu.

"..."

Kurapika thought of his options. To be fair, he didn't have anything against Chrome coming because of the fact she still had his sister's eye in her head. But he wasn't entirely sure he wanted Natsu to know the location of his family lands.

"Look if you're really that nervous about it then you can blindfold me or knock me out before we reach there. I didn't really care about Killua's family drugging me for two weeks, and I don't care about you knocking me out to keep the location secret," said Natsu flatly.

"...They actually drugged you for two weeks while we were trying to reach Killua?" said Kurapika incredulous.

"Well yeah. Like I told Killua's dad, it didn't bother me that they did it since I knew they actually cared about Killua enough to go to such extreme measures. It wasn't just because he was their heir, but because he's family."

"Blindfolds should be enough, though in Chrome's case maybe an eyepatch for her left eye," said Kurapika finally.

After all, she had a scarlet eye of his clan. And from the looks of it, she was able to pick up something from it. Enough that she had been able to channel the owner of the eye.

* * *

Natsu and Chrome were out getting a new wardrobe, mostly because Chrome had hit something of a growth spurt in the month after the exam. Kurapika had gone to track down a teacher at Natsu's suggestion and agreed to meet up at Namimori at some point.

In fact all of them agreed to meet up in that town rather than York New, if only to get their bearings and obtain some new allies in the form of Natsu's older brother Mukuro.

So it was something of a shock when an infant wearing almost adult clothing and a fedora that had a cute chameleon sitting on it appeared out of nowhere in the clothing store and Looked at them.

"Ciaossu."

Natsu froze, much like a deer in headlights.

"Oh god, not you again! Go away!" said Natsu, almost hysterically.

Chrome eyed the 'baby' with new suspicion.

"Unfortunately I can't. I'm under orders to train you," said the infant.

"Training?" said Natsu suspiciously.

He knew damn well he passed the unofficial requirement to be taken seriously as a Hunter, and Fon had already taught him how to use his Flames... or at least how to keep them in so he didn't act like a damn beacon anymore. Staying in Hyper Dying Will mode was a total pain in the ass the longer he was in it, but he knew how to pull it off.

Reborn pulled out a gun.

"I have been sent by a certain someone to train you into becoming a mafia boss," he announced.

"...Which Family?" deadpanned Natsu.

"Vongola."

"You're kidding right? Who the hell would want to take over the weakest family in the entire alliance?" said Natsu incredulous.

"Weakest?" repeated Reborn with his own incredulous tone. Who the hell went around openly calling the Vongola of all people weak?

Natsu openly rolled his eyes.

"Three dead heirs in less than a decade and a fourth one put on ice because he found out he's adopted. Not to mention the fact they've been chasing me for years after my mother died and still haven't tracked me down properly. Who would want to run a family that can't even keep their own people safe?" said Natsu with open scorn. "And don't get me started on what hypocrites they are. I could give you a list of people claiming to be from the Vongola that openly goes against their accepted business practices like drug running."

Reborn's eyebrows shot up at that.

"I was told you were a civilian with no knowledge of the underworld."

"Well whoever told you about me is a damn idiot. Like I wouldn't find out about the mafia or do some digging after being kidnapped and experimented on by the Esterneo," said Natsu coldly.

"In any case you're stuck with me until you become a mafia don or die," said Reborn, changing the subject. Though inwardly he was planning to chew Timoteo out for not telling him something this important.

"Do I get a choice about this? Because honestly I'd rather avoid the mafia after all the crap it's put me through."

"No. As you said before, the four heirs ahead of you were either killed or put on ice. Which means you're the only one who can inherit."

"Joy," said Natsu sarcastically.

"On that note, how would you feel about returning to Namimori?" asked Reborn.

Natsu froze.

"I could possibly live there. Maybe. Just don't make me live in that house again. I don't think I would be able to take it," said Natsu quietly.

Chrome was quick to hug him as she realized he was trying very hard not to remember what happened to his mother.

"I can work with that," said Reborn. He was fully planning to get the entire story of what really happened to the boy before the week was out, come hell or high water.

Reborn made Natsu buy the tickets, though he was openly curious how the boy got enough cash to pay for two first class tickets. Reborn put up with the idea of being thought of as a 'lap baby' with unfortunate ease. It wasn't the first time he had taken advantage of his apparent 'age'. Besides, Natsu's lap was very comfortable to nap in.

* * *

Natsu took a deep breath, and tried not to let the memories of home overwhelm him. He wasn't happy at all about the fact he wasn't going to be rid of Reborn any time soon.

Fon had warned him about the 'baby' when he mentioned him, and how persistent he could be especially when he had a contract.

The fact he had been sent deliberately to train Natsu meant he wasn't about to let him get out of it anytime soon. Not without some serious headaches at the very least.

Reborn only tried once to direct Natsu to his old home, but one look at the open panic in his eyes changed his mind. Fortunately there were a few empty houses he could force the Vongola to pay for in a decent neighborhood with plenty of room.

"I hope you know how to cook," said Reborn.

"I had to learn a long time ago," said Natsu.

"Good, because I don't bother with it outside of brewing coffee."

Natsu gave him a dark look.

"I knew you were a heathen."

Chrome giggled and then her stomach gurgled.

Natsu sighed.

"Come on, I know a good sushi place that we can eat at while Reborn finds a place for us to stay."

"And what makes you think I'll do that?" asked Reborn with an eyebrow up in challenge.

"Unless you want me to buy tents for us to sleep in until I find a place within my price range, which is rather pathetic..." threatened Natsu.

"...Fair enough."

He was so forcing the Vongola to pay for it though. And any other extras he managed to slip in.

Reborn made a note of the restaurant they were going to eat at before making some calls. He would have to inspect the places available before he made a decision.

It also gave him some time to find out what really happened and possibly chew out Iemitsu for not including everything.

* * *

 _In Takesushi..._

"I thought we could rent cheap hotel rooms for free?" said Chrome, once she was sure Reborn wasn't within hearing.

"You know that and I know that, but do you really want to clue him in? If he found out I have little doubt the brat would try to abuse the license or pawn it off so I don't get ideas," said Natsu.

Chrome thought that one over, and nodded in agreement. If Reborn knew about the license he might try to get rid of it purely so Natsu wouldn't be able to escape him.

It wasn't until Natsu saw the house Reborn secured (shamelessly using Vongola funds because he could) and heard the not so discreet rumors from the neighbors that he remembered something very important.

"Just out of curiosity are you going to force us to enroll in the local school?" he asked flatly.

"Yes. A mafia boss should at least have basic education," said Reborn equally flat.

"That's all I needed to hear. Might as well introduce myself to the neighbors then," said Natsu smirking.

Reborn's eyebrow went up in confusion, as did Chrome's.

What happened next had both of them gaping in shock.

Natsu introduced himself, said something in Chinese of all things, and within five minutes was fighting a teen about his age with tonfas that had a wild look in his eyes.

"Where the hell did he learn Chinese Kenpo?!" said Reborn in shock.

Because a lot of that looked far too much like Fon's fighting style to be a coincidence.

There was a loud crash, and the other teen had Natsu pinned. Natsu grinned.

"So shifu wasn't exaggerating when he said you'd be a decent fight for me," said Natsu cheerfully.

"Wao. You're decent enough, brat," said the other teen, helping him up.

"Eh, I might have let my skills slip a bit, but I'm betting you'd be happy to bring me back up to speed or in a hospital," said Natsu.

Seeing the smirk on the other boy's face, that would be a definite yes.

"Explain, now brat," said Reborn.

"Fon-shifu said that his grandson lived in Namimori and was a decent fighter, so that if I ever went back to my hometown to look him up for a match. Since we're going to be living next door this means I have someone to practice my katas with," said Natsu cheerfully. "That, and there's sort of an unofficial rule where an apprentice can challenge a member of the family if they agree to it whenever they see each other."

"Fon, as in the Storm Arcobaleno?" said Reborn darkly.

"Well yeah, he's the reason I was able to avoid most of the mafioso morons after me for four years until recently," said Natsu as if it wasn't a big deal.

Reborn made a note to call Fon to get a decent assessment of the boy's actual skills. Whatever info he had on the boy was almost entirely out of date.

* * *

Reborn was staring at his phone in shock, for good reason. Not only had Fon sent him a very detailed analysis on the work he had done with Natsu, but Timoteo had very reluctantly explained the specifics of what little they knew of what happened to Nana Sawada.

No wonder Natsu wanted nothing to do with the house at the moment. His mother was murdered in it and there was a distinct possibility he had either walked in on the act or at least seen enough of the aftermath to make a logical guess.

And by the time CEDEF found out who had done the deed, the boy had already vanished and the lab he had been contained in was a slaughterhouse with no survivors.

Though they did secure a file on a young Sky child that fit Natsu's description that underwent many, many horrifying experiments. It was a miracle the boy was even functioning, though there was some note about him attaching himself to three other experiments that could explain it.

And Iemitsu hadn't thought to share this when he was first given the file on his son. The man truly was an idiot.

Reborn made his way to the now vacant house and frowned when he saw the suspicious stain on the floor. Likely where Nana's body was. He went into the bedroom and started looking for something specific... namely a picture of the woman to give to Natsu as a peace offering.

He was going along with Reborn so far, but he had a legitimate reason for hating the mafia, and some very strong arguments on why he thought the Vongola Familigia was weak, for all the power they held.

Arguments that even Reborn couldn't deny, because when Natsu put it into context he did somewhat agree with him.

Losing the first heir was bad luck, losing a second was a coincidence, but three heirs in the span of less than seven years apart? None of which had proper Guardians or a real idea of what the bond was?

Clearly they were either highly incompetent or they didn't bother to do their jobs. The fact they iced the fourth heir really didn't help any arguments they could have made on the matter.

Reborn almost smirked with success, except considering why he was here kept him from doing so.

He wanted to give Natsu incentive to at least listen to him later, or start the slow road of trust between them as tutor and student. And what better way to do that than give the boy a picture of his mother?


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, a lot of people are complaining that Natsu should have told Reborn to shove it when he came to make him Decimo. There is a reason why he hasn't.**

 **Natsu has been training with Fon for four years, and at some point he mentioned the "creepy baby" that forced him to split up with his brothers in the first place, and Fon immediately identified said person as Reborn. Needless to say Fon warned Natsu about his colleague and told him that if Reborn had had a contract on him at the time, then it was easier to humor him (unless someone was trying to kill him, then he was doomed anyway) than it was to fight.**

 **Ergo the second he found out Reborn was there to train him under orders (meaning under contract) Natsu knew he'd never be rid of Reborn any time soon and decided to go along with it. He didn't bring up his Hunter's License because he _knows_ better. If Reborn knew he had it, then he would have likely gotten rid of it or sold it, because it's the only solid proof Natsu has at this point that he's a Hunter.**

 **I hope that clears up the confusion... also, there is no way in HELL I am making Lambo Natsu's Lightning Guardian. There's a reason why I had Gon and his group awaken their flames and why I made Gon a Lightning.**

* * *

Reborn knew he picked the right way to at least start some form of trust between them when he saw the look on Natsu's face.

It was a picture of Nana holding a smaller Natsu in her arms, smiling at the camera during a vacation. Reborn had several photos he took from the home, mostly to use as incentive to get Natsu to do something.

From the notes he was sent from Lal Mirch (who was absolutely disgusted Iemitsu hadn't shared them already, considering Reborn needed to know this), Natsu either shattered the seal out of desperation or it was broken by the experiments. Several of the dead bodies showed signs of having gone into Discord before they were disposed of.

And the only way that would happen would be if they tried to connect with an Active Sky and their Flames were rejected in a way that made them turn on the owner.

The only Sky in that lab was Natsu.

Combined with the well written reports Fon made to his clan about his apprentice (Fon never explicitly stated what the boy's Flame type was for obvious reasons), the Storm had noted something odd about Natsu while he was training him.

The boy instinctively knew how to inflict Discord on others with his Flames. Fon had been safe, mostly because he had developed a minor bond with Natsu during training, but the foolish Storm and Lightning who had accosted them had fallen victim to the dangerous condition when they tried to force harmonization on Natsu while they were out. Fon had been forced to eliminate them as a result.

Considering what had been done to him, it was likely he had developed that particular ability as a self-defense technique.

It was very dangerous, but Natsu was too kind to use it normally. Not unless he felt his safety was in genuine danger against another Flame user.

Which was the only reason Fon had completed his basic training at all. The boy had far more morals than most of the Mafia put together.

Reborn and Chrome pretended to ignore the fact Natsu spent the entire night crying. He managed to hide it well enough the next morning, but Kyouya (the battle-crazed teenager from next door) still noticed it.

"Small carnivore, what happened?" he demanded.

Chrome enlightened him, since it was highly doubtful Natsu would.

"Reborn went back to Natsu's old house and gave him some of the pictures of him and his mother before she was killed. Natsu still hasn't gotten over how she died, which is why we live here and not in the home he grew up in."

Kyouya's eyes narrowed.

"What was the old address?" he asked suspiciously.

Because he had the sneaking suspicion the small animal that had been taken from his territory had come back as a trained carnivore. He had not been pleased with what happened over seven years ago.

Natsu told him in a flat voice, confirming what he already suspected. Considering Natsu had already proven that he was indeed a recently licensed Hunter, Kyouya made a decision.

He would not let the small carnivore be harmed again.

A strange warmth blossomed in his chest, and it fit almost perfectly with the explanation the damn carnivore (Fon) had given him shortly after he first manifested purple flames on his tonfas.

The fake baby smirked at them both.

"Congratulations Natsu, it seems you've gotten your first Guardian."

"Wait, what?" said Natsu, head whipping to look at Reborn.

"You can feel it, can't you? That warmth in your chest is harmonization, and with a particularly strong Cloud to boot. Those are nearly impossible to find, and take forever to bond with."

"Oh, is _that_ what that feeling is? I just thought it was a really strong connection with someone. I know my brothers tended to get a bit clingy after we escaped, saying it felt painful to be away from me."

Reborn blinked.

"You've felt it before?"

"Multiple times. Hell, Nii-san mentioned feeling it when we were escaping the lab, how the warmth shielded them from whatever I did to send the experiments berserk."

"...Didn't you show Gon and the others how to awaken their Flames before we left?"

"Oh yeah. Killua mentioned something about his chest feeling warm too..." said Natsu thinking about it.

"Brat. How many times have you felt harmonization and what color of flames were they?" demanded Reborn. Because that meant he had to track down the people in question to see them trained.

Natsu pulled out a well worn notebook.

"Let's see. There's my brothers, who had indigo, yellow and blue respectively. Then there was Master Fon, who had red though it was a lot weaker than what I felt with Nii-san. And of course Chrome here who has strong indigo... and then there was Killua who had indigo and light violet, Gon with yellow and green, Leorio who was straight yellow and Kurapika who has violet and indigo. And finally Kyouya who has the same but in different proportions," said Natsu. "So about ten."

Reborn stared at him.

"And where are they now?" he asked.

"Well Nii-san and the others said they would make their way here at some point, and the meet up spot would be arranged by dead drop at my old address. Killua and Gon are training in the Celestial Sky Arena at the moment, though last I heard they were almost at the top floor. Kurapika split up with us after we helped him put some of his family members to rest, though considering the lead he got from Chrome he might come to this area to deal with her mother. And Leorio is currently training to become a doctor in his home town," said Natsu, listing them off.

"Why is she with you then?" asked Kyouya.

"Because from a legal standpoint I'm Chrome's legal guardian," said Natsu bluntly. "The short and simple of it is that because she bonded to me during the exams, there was a bit of paperwork filed and she was placed into my custody since the only other option would be to return her to her abusive mother. So long as she has a regular check up and is well cared for, her mother can't remove her from my custody."

"Well that explains the odd notation in her application," muttered Kyouya.

He had thought it a clerical error when he read the files, but now it made perfect sense.

* * *

A small figure was looking around with wide eyes. She had tracked down the person she wanted to meet the most, and the voice in the back of her head had been rather insistent she find him. It hadn't been easy, but fortunately she had training...at least she was trained until the incident when she was seven.

Onii-chan wasn't going to be happy, but their family were mean. She didn't like being locked up.

If things worked out, she'd never have to be locked away again.

Seeing the teen and the girl, she brightened.

She completely ignored the baby nearby and promptly tackled the boy.

"Nii-chan, I found you!"

 _Natsu POV_

This was not what he expected when he woke up this morning, but his intuition had at least given him fair warning something weird would happen today. He had thought it would be because of Reborn though.

Seeing the adorable little girl who insisted he was her 'Nii-chan', his intuition went on hyper alert. As if warning him that the wrong move would end up with something that would bring no end of disaster down on his head.

"Um... hello? What's your name?"

"Alluka!"

"Okay, Luka-chan. How do you know I'm your 'nii-chan'?" he asked slowly.

Alluka had a weird smile on her face, and his danger senses were going off big time.

"Because she told me that I wouldn't have to stay in that dark room if I found the same nii-chan who's attached to Onii-chan!"

Dark room? Natsu looked at her closer and realized she was ridiculously pale, as if she had been locked away from sun for a very long time. He could commiserate...and filed away asking who "she" was until later.

"Do your mama or papa know you're here?"

Alluka shook her head.

"Mama and Papa told me I wasn't allowed out of the room or to see anyone since those mummies came by and talked to them. Onii-chan used to talk to me, but he went away with his new friends," she said pouting. "They would be really, really mad if they knew I was here."

Natsu carefully prodded her with his Flames... and nearly gaped.

Dear kami, she was stronger than Mukuro-nii and closer to Reborn or Fon in strength, and he could tell she was Nen-active as well. Likely with a really dangerous ability, which would explain why they locked her up.

Well, there was no way he was going to let a little girl suffer being locked away for the rest of her life because of something she couldn't control. Besides, she looked familiar, like he had seen her features before on someone else.

"Well Luka-chan, how about you stay with us for a while?"

Alluka beamed at him, and when she realized he wasn't going to try and get rid of her or make her leave, she harmonized with him easily.

Reborn was very wary of her. Something about her was off, and not in a good way.

* * *

 _In the Celestial Sky Arena..._

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALLUKA GOT OUT?! No she hasn't come here! Do you really think I would let her wander around outside the mansion with her ability, especially after the warning we got?!"

Gon winced at the volume level. Killua was equal parts horrified and worried.

Then again that could be because Illumi had called Killua directly. He wondered who Alluka was.

Killua looked really freaked out.

"What happened?"

"My little sister got lose from the mansion and is nowhere near our family lands. Which is bad. Really, really bad," said Killua openly stressed out.

"Bad as in..."

"We were warned by the underworld 'police' called the Vindice that if she went on a rampage again they would lock her away permanently and we'd never see her again. The problem is that with her ability she would be a major commodity in the underworld, and is something of a danger to the public if she starts her ability up again," said Killua, almost pulling his hair out in worry. "And now she's loose."

Gon winced.

"Do you have any idea where she would go?"

"Other than try to find me, not really. I mean I'm one of the few she actually likes, and she went missing less than a week after I left to train with you. If she hasn't tracked me down, then I have absolutely no idea where she would go."

He might not like his family's line of work, but he did love Alluka. He was so pissed that they took over a month to tell him she was missing.

"I'll help look, if we find any leads," said Gon firmly.

"Thanks," said Killua. There was nothing he could do, and wandering around without any idea where she was wouldn't help. Illumi was already on the hunt, as was his father and grandfather.

* * *

Natsu took one look at the new transfer and immediately pegged the boy as a classic Storm. Considering the exasperation Reborn had to the fact he kept attracting Mists as "Elements", it was likely he had called this kid in to start filling in the missing Elements in his collection.

He had already started to make headway when he accidentally busted the local baseball star for over-training his right arm in front of his dad. The second the sushi chef found out "Takeshi" had been experiencing a great deal of pain in his right arm lately, he put the boy on medical leave from sports until it healed up.

Takeshi had been giving him odd looks ever since, as if he didn't know whether to hate Natsu or thank him. To be fair, Natsu had never spoken to him before, and didn't really care if he was popular for his baseball skills.

He just saw a major problem and told someone who would actually act on it appropriately. He wasn't exactly in Namimori to make friends with the locals.

Gokudera Hayato had a major chip on his shoulder worse than the one Kurapika had.

Natsu could tell just by looking at him that the guy had something to prove, mostly to himself, and was a bit high strung.

He knew he had Hayato pegged when he started in on him during break and started drawing out dynamite of all things.

Natsu gave him an unimpressed look.

"Really Reborn? This was the best you could come up with? If I did take him on it's going to take forever to beat some damn sense into him, much less deal with the chip on his shoulder," said Natsu in complaint.

Reborn tilted his hat, likely to hide his smirk.

"Fine, let's get this over with. Otherwise Luka-chan will start stalking Kyouya again."

Alluka had taken a real shine to the older teen after she saw him fight, and much to the annoyance of the Cloud had taken to stalking him for fun.

The only reason he hadn't dumped her right back on Natsu was because the one time he tried to ditch her in yakuza territory she wiped out a decent number of thugs in less than five minutes. Her skills were good, but it was clear she hadn't had much practice in them for quite some time.

He had taken to showing her how to use tonfas out of boredom and to see how much more effective a carnivore she could be.

It was also very hilarious to see the double takes people did whenever she started calling him Kyouya-nii to his face and him letting her get away with it. Or it was likely because she had started carrying identical weapons and beating people with them if they annoyed her.

It was surprising none of the teachers had commented on the fact she had started to stay in the same room Kyouya had commandeered during school hours, despite being too young to actually attend their school. So long as she was doing homework and behaving, Natsu couldn't bring himself to care. Neither could Kyouya, for that matter.

Hayato was rough around the edges, had all the loyal enthusiasm of a frequently kicked puppy who kept coming back for more, and upon learning that most if not all of his bombs were home made, was something of a genius in chemistry. And quite possibly a lot of other subjects.

Most would simply look at his bad habits and not the good ones, before promptly dismissing him as not worth the effort.

But Natsu had lived with the likes of Ken and Chikusa, as well as the sometimes cranky Mukuro-nii. Ken, who was very much rough around the edges and inclined to attack others when he thought they were insulting Natsu, Mukuro or even himself, but was far more loyal and caring than he would admit to and had a major soft spot for abused animals and kids.

Chikusa, who didn't say much but was scarily smart and was the type to plot the most evil revenge before acting on it in a way that wouldn't be traced back to him later. The only one who shared Natsu's love of learning and had a lot of patience.

And finally Mukuro, who hated almost all mafioso for damn good reason, and who was very overprotective of his "minions" and little brother to the point he wouldn't hesitate to torture anyone who pissed him off, or worse, possess them. But he was also one of the first who would jump in to protect those he considered his.

So where most would look at Hayato Gokudera and see someone too troublesome to put up with, Natsu saw a diamond in the rough that only needed someone who was willing to make it shine.


	10. Chapter 10

"Feel free to pick a room. Reborn found a place with more than enough bedrooms, and I know how expensive it is to rent a decent apartment. Maybe later we can make one of the spare rooms a place for you to work on your weapons, but for now let's just focus on getting you settled in," said Natsu.

Hayato was practically in tears, mostly because Natsu had not only accepted him but insisted he stay in his home while they tried to work out whether Hayato could become his Storm Guardian.

Hayato picked the room next to Chrome's, who slept right across the hall from Natsu. Alluka had a habit of mostly sleeping in Natsu's room anyway, but she shared her closet and bathroom with Chrome. She did have a bed in the older girl's room, but it was rarely used.

"If you know how to cook, you're welcome to make breakfast or dinner. If not, avoid the kitchen area. Also, Kyouya tends to drop in during the morning to act as my sparring partner, so you'll probably see us going at it before breakfast. Join in at your own peril," said Natsu.

"Got it, Jyuudaime!" said Hayato eagerly.

Natsu frowned.

"Natsu-san, or Natsu-kun will be fine. Or you can call me Boss. I would really like to avoid being reminded I'm stuck as the heir of that weak familigia in the first place," said Natsu firmly.

Hayato goggled at him.

"You actually call the Vongola weak?" he said in shock.

Natsu leveled an unimpressed look.

"They lost three of their heirs in seven years, none of which had proper Guardians from what I understand, and iced a fourth because he got pissed with the current Don's practices. They also failed to properly protect my mother and I from enemy Familigia," deadpanned Natsu coldly. "To say nothing of the fact that several of their own men have been busted for drug running and the Don has done absolutely nothing about reigning those idiots in."

Hayato blinked.

"Okay, I can somewhat see your point."

"And don't get me started on the fact that from what I was told, the original heir was more than old enough to take the reigns, but the old man never stepped down despite his advanced age citing that his son didn't have enough Guardians. All they would have to do was open up a ball or five to allow him to set feelers out for potentials, and instead they allowed him to remain ignorant on the true nature of Guardian bonds."

"You really don't like the Vongola much, do you?"

"Considering how badly the man who claims to be my father failed to protect my mother and I, when he's supposedly the head of their intelligence division, no," said Natsu bluntly.

The Esterneo goons had laughed about the fact there wasn't any protection at all on the house or family, and how easy it was to take a potential heir from the Vongola.

Natsu hated incompetence more than anything after he found out the full truth of why he was taken. Almost as much as he despised traitors. He held a lot of well-justified rage on the matter, but knew better than to take it out on anyone who didn't genuinely deserve it to some point.

"So no, I don't particularly care for the head of CEDEF or the head of the Vongola. Both of them have become complacent and incompetent to the point that it's hurting those that are supposed to depend on them for protection. At this point the _only_ reason I'm even humoring Reborn on the matter is because there's no one else to take the mantle and because Fon-shifu warned me of how persistent Reborn was while under contract. So much so that trying to get out of it would unlikely be worth the trouble of attempting it."

Hayato was silent, because honestly he could really see Natsu's point. Both as a mafioso and as person. He hated his own family because of his mother's death, so he could relate.

And then Natsu got a really, really weird smile on his face.

"Besides...nothing said I have to listen to my 'elders' once I'm the boss, so if you happen to have a bad day I could honestly care less if you decided on some wanton destruction. Odds are the place could use some redecorating and it would emphasize that they can go screw themselves," said Natsu.

Hayato stared at him, before an evil smirk came on his own face.

"Considering my grandfather on my mom's side is one of Nono's Guardians and told me I was on my own when I asked him for help getting away from my sister and her habit of poisoning me on my father's orders, I completely agree," he said darkly.

Natsu beamed at him, and Hayato got to work bringing his things into his new room.

He could grow to like his new Boss.

Kyouya took one look at Hayato's primary weapons and narrowed his eyes at him. He leveled a tonfa in his direction, with Alluka quickly copying him.

"Wao. Little puppy if I find out you've been causing any trouble at the school with your fireworks I will hunt you down and bite you to death. Are we clear?"

"They're not fireworks!" said Hayato growling.

Natsu lightly slapped him on the head.

"Hayato, don't piss off Kyouya. He'd kick your ass in a minute flat, if not sooner. And I will be confiscating your bombs during school hours. The last thing we need is for you to accidentally cause so much damage that it becomes structurally unsafe to go into."

Hayato looked very much like a kicked puppy.

"Which is why this weekend you and I are going to the black market to see if we can't find something other than bombs for you to specialize in and get you proper training. Blowing things up is fine to an extent, but you're only risking yourself if an enemy gets up close and personal. A Storm is typically the right hand of the Sky, right? How would you react if someone got so close that you'd run the risk of blowing me up along with the enemy?" said Natsu.

Hayato looked down in defeat, because he had a valid point.

Natsu gently patted him on the head.

"It's not your fault that you never got the training. Storms typically have short fuses to begin with, and from the sound of it your family was more interested in making you a caged bird rather than someone who could be useful. And living on the streets only improves survival skills, not ones that could be used as a Guardian. Trust me, I would know."

Which made him perk up again.

What he didn't see was the puppy ears and tail Chrome gave him. Alluka giggled and Kyouya smirked.

Natsu flashed her a thumbs up and Chrome giggled.

 _Some time later..._

Hayato's new weapon was a crossbow, very, very similar to the one that the Donna Vongola used when she was in power.

It allowed him to load smaller explosives into the tips, and it was very good practice for a gun later. Reborn had approved of the idea when it was explained to him (after pouting that Hayato hadn't gotten a gun straight off for an hour) and agreed to help Hayato learn how to shoot the thing.

Of course he wasn't the only one outfitted with a new weapon. Chrome got herself a naginata, though she said it was the closest fit she could find. Natsu suspected she might prefer a similar weapon to Mukuro, which was a trident of all things.

Considering his training with Fon, Natsu stuck to something simple that could be hidden in his clothes. He picked up a weapon known as Crescent Moon Knives, or "deer horn knives". Kyouya was rather annoyed when he first used them against him, because the weapon was very, very effective in catching his tonfa and allowing Natsu to attack almost immediately. Considering they were bladed weapons, they were something he had to work at dodging and they were easily concealed in Natsu's bag.

Alluka, for the most part, stuck to the old practice tonfa Kyouya had given her. They were his old ones, since his current set were custom made as a gift from Fon. They were made of specially treated metal designed to channel Flames more effectively.

At least Natsu wouldn't be alone in his training, since Chrome, Alluka and Hayato had expressed an interest, in between his fights with Kyouya.

Takeshi could tell he was depressed, and it was little wonder why. He had no idea what he was supposed to do with his life without baseball. His father had him banned from the sport until his arm healed, and most of his so-called friends had more or less abandoned him after the first two weeks since he couldn't play for two months.

Oh, they still talked to him of course, but they didn't include him in anything like they had before. Even his own classmates had more or less started to ignore he existed.

It hurt. It hurt more than he ever thought it would, finding out they weren't really his friends and only liked him because he was good at baseball.

There was a dark rain cloud over his head and he had very little ability to dispel it. Even his dad was starting to get worried about him and he could tell.

He had even started contemplating going up to the roof and just falling off.

So it was with great surprise that he actually jumped a little when he felt something cold against the back of his neck.

He turned to find... Natsu?

"You looked like you needed it," he said.

"Uh...thanks."

It was even his favorite drink.

Natsu gave a slightly scathing look at their classmates, which most of them missed.

"Want to join us for lunch?"

Takeshi stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because most of our classmates clearly have their heads in their ass if they haven't noticed the fact you're depressed? Because it's sort of my fault you got put on medical leave in the first place? Because you looked like you could use someone to at least notice you as a person, not as some hot shot baseball star?" said Natsu rather bluntly.

Takeshi stared at him. The weird thing was he could start to feel some of that rain cloud in his heart dissipate, just a little. Still, it wasn't like anyone else was offering to eat lunch with him, and he was very lonely.

He slowly managed to get his packed lunch from his dad and went with Natsu to the roof. The sky was very clear and bright, and he had to blink when he saw who was there.

The hot head known as Gokudera, the odd girl Chrome, Kyouya Hibari himself, and... was that a little girl in miko clothing?

"What took you so long Boss?"

"I figured Takeshi could use some _real_ company for lunch. Seems like most of our class are a bunch of ignorant morons that lost interest when he got banned for two months," said Natsu.

Takeshi gave one of his fake smiles that came far too easily as he half-heartedly waved at them.

The girls frowned at him in unison.

"If you're not having a good day, it's okay to show it. You don't have to smile and pretend it's okay," scolded Chrome. The little girl nodded.

Takeshi blinked, his expression startled. No one had ever noticed his fake smiles from his real ones.

"I'm fairly sure you know who Chrome, Hayato and Kyouya are. And this is my little sister Luka-chan," said Natsu, nodding to the little girl.

"You look nothing alike," said Takeshi, sitting down.

"Well she refuses to tell me who her family is, and I'm not letting a girl her age wander around the streets," said Natsu flatly.

Takeshi blinked. That was a pretty good reason to claim she was a sibling, if nothing else.

It was...strange. For the first time in a very long time, he felt happy. They actually included him in the conversation and even _listened_ to him, and not once did they mention his favorite sport. Instead they asked things about sushi and other things he liked to do other than baseball.

He barely even realized the rain cloud in his heart going away as he felt like he belonged.

They didn't see Takeshi Yamamoto, baseball prodigy star. They saw Takeshi, someone who loved baseball, sushi and video games that looked like he needed some real friends instead of the fake ones he surrounded himself with.

When he went home for the day, he didn't even realize he was smiling for real until his dad commented on it.

"Have a better day?" he asked. There was a sense of relief around him, like he was really worried about Takeshi.

"I think I made some new friends," said Takeshi. He would have to see if they wanted him to join them for lunch again.

Tsuyoshi smiled warmly at the idea.

By the end of the week, Takeshi could safely state Natsu and his group were his friends, including the grumpy Hibari. Without even realizing it, they were including him in most of their group activities, and he even spent the night a few times beating Hayato and Natsu at video games. It was nice, and it was something he didn't realize he was missing until he found himself surrounded by people who genuinely gave a damn about him.

The warmth in his chest whenever he thought about his new friends was something he would cherish for as long as he lived. It was nice being around them.

Tsuyoshi merely watched with amusement as his son unknowingly harmonized with Natsu. He wasn't ready to learn about Flames, but he would be more than ready to train Takeshi in the family swords style and explain things to him properly when the boy came to him for training.

At least he knew Natsu had a good head on his shoulders and was more honorable than most.


	11. Chapter 11

Natsu's hand lashed out and grabbed a small child about four or five with ridiculously fluffy hair and cow-print onesie glaring at Reborn holding a gun at him.

In a single move he had the kid tied up and his weapons confiscated.

Then he yawned widely.

"Kid, it is entirely too early in the morning for any murder attempts on people who would ignore it entirely, and Reborn is cranky when he hasn't had his morning coffee. So for all our sakes and your own, chill until after breakfast, okay?" said Natsu tiredly. Seeing a tantrum in the works, Natsu cringed. "Do you want any juice? We have grape, apple and orange."

That did the trick.

"Can Lambo have some grape?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes at him.

"What do we say when we're asking for something?"

"Please?" said Lambo slowly.

"Good. Here's your juice," said Natsu, easily poking the hole in the top and making sure it was within reach of the kid without untying him.

He set about making breakfast while the kid sipped his juice and calmed down. Reborn barely batted an eye at his presence.

"Why is the Bovino brat on the counter tied up?" he asked sourly.

"Caught him trying to sneak into the house. It's too early for guns and explosions," said Natsu tiredly.

"The kid likes grapes," supplied Reborn. He knew that much about him.

Natsu smirked and reached in the fridge for something. Lambo's eyes were firmly on him as he pulled out a large batch of grapes, as well as some grape jam and some bread.

"If you behave I'll make you something to eat and you can eat these, okay? But you have to leave Reborn alone and explain why you're trying to attack him," said Natsu firmly.

"Lambo will behave," said the boy.

Natsu started making breakfast, including some toast that he cut up into halves and slathered some grape jam on. He untied Lambo and the boy set about eating like he hadn't had anything in days. From the condition of his clothes, he probably hadn't.

"Now why are you after Reborn?"

"The Boss said I had to take out Reborn to be considered a full member of the family," said Lambo.

Natsu looked at him.

"Lambo is the nephew of the man who leads the Bovino familigia. His parents are dead and he doesn't really have any proper minders. Most people find him too annoying to deal with," said Reborn. You could tell from his tone he was among those people.

"So he's an orphan who hasn't had any real family to take care of him and raise him properly. And he's Active, from what I can tell to boot."

Lambo felt like a straight Lightning, and if trained could be just as strong as Gon was. But he was little and hadn't had anyone to take care of him, making him reckless.

Why did he kept attracting the broken ones? Even Hayato was damaged to some extent from the way his sister and father treated him.

Natsu sighed.

"Lambo, how would you like to stay here with us?"

Seeing the child's eyes widen in shock, Natsu smiled tiredly.

"I know what it's like to live on the street, and if you stay with us I promise we won't leave you or make you do something stupid like try to kill Reborn."

The boy's eyes filled up with tears before he started bawling. Natsu hugged him gently and let him get it out.

"It's okay Lambo-kun. You're not going to be alone anymore."

Alluka pouted a bit finding out she had to share her Natsu-nii, but she took the role of big sister very well considering. Even if Lambo was a bit of a brat.

Most of that calmed down when Lambo realized Natsu wasn't going to kick him out and actually listened to what he had to say. More than that, Natsu had a strange knack with kids that left some baffled.

Until he explained having to use them on his brother Ken far too often, with much laughter from his nii-san. Mukuro found his ability to make Ken behave around others hilarious. Chigusa would just give the boy a stare down like you wouldn't believe, and Ken followed any order from Mukuro without hesitation.

Besides, it was either gentle discipline or Natsu would break out the dog whistle again. Ken hated those.

* * *

Natsu had been having a hectic month, but then something happened that made his life so much more amusing.

Reborn had a friend by the name of Trident Shamal, who happened to be a doctor. Now normally this wouldn't be interesting in itself, regardless of Shamal's usual method of fighting and the fact he had diseases canceling each other out.

Except Shamal had recently taken on an apprentice/intern, who would be acting as his assistant in his 'job' as the school doctor.

Natsu had taken one look at the "assistant" and started laughing his ass off, and for good reason.

"How the hell did you run into this idiot, Leorio?" he said, once he had his breath back.

Leorio grumbled under his breath once he realized who it was.

"I blame you," he said flatly. "When were you going to tell me that the damn mafia tracks down Flame actives?"

"I thought I already explained that, considering why I had to take the exam in the first place," said Natsu openly amused.

"Shamal was nice enough to take me on as his apprentice, so I can still get my doctorate and get the training required to be a full hunter. He's a pretty good drinking buddy. Wasn't expecting to run into you so soon though," grumbled the twenty-something year old.

"The feelings mutual. On an unrelated note where are you two staying?"

"Shamal said something about hopefully crashing at a friend's place. Why?"

Natsu smirked.

"Well my old house is still vacant and it's not like I'm planning to use it anytime soon. So long as you can manage the upkeep you're welcome to use it. Unless you don't mind rooming with a bunch of teens and a few kids."

"...Let me see how bad it is at your place before I take you up on the offer of the house," said Leorio.

In the end they took up the offer of staying at Natsu's old home, though Leorio did take the opportunity to find out about the teen.

From what he saw, the boy's father was nonexistent and he had been very, very close to his mother.

Shamal hadn't said anything about the suspicious stain on the floor, but Leorio had his own thoughts about what it was. Mostly from the limited amount Natsu had told them during the third phase.

If this was the same house his mother was killed in, then he didn't blame the kid for a minute for not wanting to come back.

"Ciaossu."

Leorio only stared for ten seconds before he shook his head. Gon was a major powerhouse at eleven, so it was entirely possible this guy was even stronger.

"I take it you're Reborn?" he asked cautiously.

"Natsu mentioned you were a Sun, but you have no training."

"Yeah, Natsu helped me unlock my Flames a few months ago to save my life. I'd be dead right now if not for him," said Leorio, lifting up his shirt to show a spectacularly nasty scar on his side. The healing was rough, and it wasn't pretty to look at, but the mere fact he was alive was a testament to how stubborn the man was.

No wonder Natsu had harmonized with him so fast. Saving his life would have sped up the process immeasurably.

"I hope you don't mind being humiliated repeatedly, because I'm going to be putting your ass through the wringer until you get the basics down," smirked Reborn.

Natsu was damaged and too well trained for most of his tricks to work. His civilian Sun, on the other hand... he looked like he would be fun to train.

Leorio winced, but didn't complain. He needed all the training he could get, if only so he could become a proper doctor later. He had the basics of Nen down, but Flames eluded him considering Shamal was a Mist and not much help.

Though he did bitch when Natsu somehow tricked him into acting as a damn babysitter for the little cow brat during school hours.

* * *

Natsu merely had to look at the calendar before sighing. He hadn't properly celebrated his birthday since his mother died. Either he was too busy trying to avoid the damn mafioso out to capture him, or he was training with Fon. All it meant to him was another year without his mother, a fact that pained him every time it came around.

To say nothing of how depressed he got on the actual date he had been able to work out when she died. He was inconsolable for a week whenever that day came up.

He didn't really care for anything at all.

Reborn observed his student from the shadows, and frowned at how depressed the boy was. Even though he knew damn well the kid's birthday was in less than a week. Not to mention his own.

Well, Natsu had been keeping that annoying Bovino brat out of his hair since the kid showed up, and it wasn't like he cared to celebrate his birthday much anyway... it wouldn't kill him to do something _nice_ for the kid every once in a while.

Using his mother's old photos was more than enough motivation for Natsu to listen to his orders. While it was less entertaining than the hell he put Dino through, the simple fact was that even _he_ couldn't fault the kid for loving his mother and keeping her memory alive.

Mafioso were very big on respecting one's mother...hell, even Xanxus was big on that, and he was a total brat growing up!

"EH?! Natsu-sama's birthday is next week?!"

"Keep it down, idiot puppy. And yes, from the file I was given his birthday is the day after mine. I highly doubt he's bothered to celebrate it since his mother died," said Reborn.

Alluka puffed up.

"We need to make it _extra_ special then!" she said with a determined look on her face.

Natsu was nice to her and wasn't afraid of Nanika. Even when she pestered him, the only thing he wished for was for Alluka/Nanika to be happy and stay they way they were.

Needless to say he won over her "other" self pretty fast. No one had made a wish for Nanika to be happy or ask for anything just for her. As such he had become more or less immune to Alluka's pestering and Nanika's retribution.

The others she only left alone because it would upset Natsu-nii-san. She didn't want to be locked up again...it had been so hard to get out the first time!

"Which is why I'm calling in the cavalry...and giving you all Iemitsu's bank information. Have fun," said Reborn wickedly.

Hayato blinked.

"Who's Iemitsu?"

"The idiot who couldn't keep his mouth shut and never bothered to put up a proper guard around his _civilian_ family," said Reborn. Seeing Hayato didn't get it, he simplified it further. "Natsu's other genetic donor, the one that left them alone when they should have been protected."

"In that case I think we'll be draining his accounts dry, or as close as possible. Can we upgrade our weapon's vault?" asked Hayato darkly.

Natsu explained why he couldn't go near his old home to them one night when he accidentally mistook grape wine for Lambo's favorite grape juice. After the first bottle he had broken into the liquor cabinet which only he and Reborn had the combination too and got absolutely drunk.

He didn't talk about his time with the Esterneo, but he did tell them of why he hated the mafia.

Finding out his _genetic donor_ hadn't even bothered to do his damn job and protect them like he should have hurt. It hurt a lot. Iemitsu had long since forfeited any rights to being considered a father years ago, and nothing he did would ever make up for what happened.

"Do I look like I give a damn if you bleed him dry? Though if you really want to and upgrade our intel with _accurate_ data..." said Reborn thoughtfully. "Get what you need for the party and any presents, and I'll drain the rest."

Mammon would love the idea of draining Iemitsu's accounts dry, especially as Reborn would be using the Arcobaleno Mist to find the missing trio that Natsu called his brothers. He had an idea of where the Lightning Sun, Misty Cloud and Cloudy Mist were (Gon, Killua and Kurapika respectively), but they were busy finishing their _other_ training. If he needed them, Natsu could always reach them through his phone. They had exchanged phone numbers after all.

Payback was a bitch and Iemitsu had a very long, _long_ list of things he deserved to have come back with karmic vengeance for. Especially when it came to his _former_ family, because there was no way in hell Natsu would ever acknowledge him as anything that had power over him, much less a relation to him. He'd probably take to Xanxus before he ever trusted his "father".

(And yes, Mammon was more than happy to overcharge Iemitsu's account for information regarding Mukuro's whereabouts. From the sound of things, the teen and his group were steadily making their way to Japan anyway.)


	12. Chapter 12

To say Natsu was shocked at the massive party in the house was an understatement. However seeing the smiling faces of Alluka, Hayato and the others (and the somewhat grumpy face of Kyouya, probably due to Fon being there with his new student I-Pin) he found it hard to stay depressed. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be if his Nii-san and his brothers were here.

Reborn's news, however, cheered him up a lot.

"I got word from a reliable source that the trio you want to see most are currently in Asia at the moment, and making good headway to Japan. They should be here in a few months, sooner if they find better transportation."

Natsu perked up.

"Where in Asia? I could go pick them up!"

"How? I doubt they have passports and you don't know how to fly a plane," said Reborn.

Natsu chuckled darkly.

"Who needs to buy a plane when I could rent one. Besides, Mukuro-nii is a Mist... he can fake any passports and they already know Japanese."

"Or I could ask Kurapika to pick them up. He's heading this way for...business," said Leorio.

Chrome didn't need to be told that by "business", he meant Kurapika was coming to get information from her mother. She wouldn't lose any sleep over it if her mother and step father died.

Even if it meant a headache in dealing with the inheritance. Her mother was rich, and she was the woman's only heir.

Natsu grinned.

"I'll give them warning about Kurapika. That should be enough," said Natsu. "Now I believe there's a party we have going?"

Alluka happily presented the cake to Natsu.

"Chrome helped!" she said proudly. "I decorated though!"

Natsu grinned at the happy little girl and gave her a proud hug.

"Did Nika-chan help too?" he asked. Alluka nodded.

"She picked the colors!"

"Good job, Luka-chan, Nika-chan," said Natsu.

"I brought the food!" said Takeshi grinning. His dad had been more than happy to make the food...especially after Reborn handed over Iemitsu's credit card. Not his problem if the idiot didn't bother to keep an eye on his cards.

Everything was going smashingly, even if Natsu had to share the party with Reborn. There was fun chaos, and afterwards he was able to "contact" Mukuro with the suggestion that he hitch a ride with Kurapika to Japan.

* * *

Normally he wouldn't consider this, except it was from Natsu and Kurapika was a Hunter, not a mafioso.

Kurapika was much harder to get a hold of, but at the same time was easier to convince. All it took was Reborn casually mentioning Mammon's information gathering skills and the fact that "he" would happily pay for the information packets.

And by he, Reborn fully meant Iemitsu. After all, courting Clouds was a delicate affair, and Kurapika was firmly a Cloud who was dead set on retrieving his family's eyes and putting them to rest.

Mukuro eyed the blond warily. Kurapika looked very much like he wanted to get this over with. Besides, he owed Natsu for awakening his Flames. Even if avoiding the mafioso was damn annoying, one look at his license usually made them back off once he made it clear he wasn't interested.

However he would put up with an unknown if it meant getting back to Natsu faster. Even if he was less than happy that his brother was now stuck acting as the Vongola heir.

Natsu was even less pleased, because the Vongola really dropped the ball when it came to protecting their heirs. To say nothing of his open dislike of the mafia in general.

However his tutor at least had some sense, and had been using old pictures of Natsu's mother to motivate him into actually listening rather than blowing him up. And the man who sent Natsu to the Hunter's Association had decided to stick around with his apprentice, so there was that.

"I'm Kurapika. You're Mukuro aren't you?"

"Kufufufu... Natsu warned me you would be coming. You are indeed as interesting as he told me," said Mukuro without batting an eye.

Ken and Chikusa kept their silence. They just wanted to see Natsu again, especially now that they didn't have to separate to keep him safe. Besides, odds were Natsu had his own plan on how to make the Vongola pay for forcing him to act as their next head despite the fact they failed him.

Mukuro had them past airport security faster than Kurapika with his license. Hell, he even managed to hide all their illegal acquisitions from customs. The fact he spoke fluent Japanese with a slight accent didn't hurt.

Of course nothing could have prepared them for the sheer chaos that was about to be unleashed when Mukuro met Hibari...

"NII-SAN!"

"OOF!"

Fon watched with open amusement as Natsu tackled the Mist. It didn't help that Natsu also managed to get Ken and Chikusa at the same time, or that all three were flat on the ground.

"Dog pile!" declared Alluka happily.

The children in the house joined in with glee, including I-Pin who didn't really know what was going on, just that it was a lot of fun.

"I think this is cause for a party! Or at least a lot of take-out from Takesushi!" said Natsu grinning.

Mukuro patted Natsu on the head. He felt the familiar warmth in his chest bloom and felt relief.

And then Hibari came over to "play" with Natsu, and came within range of Mukuro. To say it was explosive was an understatement. The two seemed to enjoy setting the other off for a fight.

Having Natsu slamming his fist on the back of their heads to get them to knock it off was rather amusing, really.

"Enough! If you must be destructive idiots, wait until I'm officially recognized as Decimo! Then you can go on a rampage for all I care in the mansion! I'm sure that place could use some modern redecorating!"

"The fact it would piss off the Ninth generation is just a bonus, right Natsu-kun?" said Reborn, his eyes openly laughing.

"They want to drag me into being Decimo, they can pay for my Guardians going a little wild in their damn mansion. Not like I care about some priceless piece of crap when I barely tolerate the idea of leading a mafia family," said Natsu rolling his eyes. Fon hid a smile, though it was clear he was trying not to laugh. "However when I tell you idiots to do something, you had better do it without argument, are we clear?"

Mukuro snickered with his odd laugh, and Hibari looked positively bloodthirsty. However the terms were rather reasonable. He wasn't telling them _not_ to fight, he was telling them to tone it down until they could annoy the hell out of the old bastards who were trying to run their lives. Not like he cared about their traditions.

"Perfectly, little brother," said Mukuro smirking.

"Fine little carnivore, but it had better be worth my time," said Hibari growling.

"Like I'd bother sending you on the boring missions. That's what Lambo is for," said Natsu.

Alluka giggled.

"Now that you're here Mukuro-nii, can you teach Chrome and Alluka how to use Mist properly? Chrome is good, but Alluka really needs the help, especially since Nanika-chan apparently controls Luka-chan's Nen ability."

Alluka was the Mist, not Nanika. In fact her alter ego was unable to use Flames at all, and was entirely reliant on Nen. If Alluka was going to have a chance in an argument with her other half, then she needed training.

Mukuro looked at the seemingly innocent and happy girl, then at his little brother. At first glance the girl seemed harmless...but then he saw the way she took to the bird that had declared Natsu _his_ , and he saw a steel that could only be inherited.

Let the grumpy bird train the little one in how to fight. Her Flames were his to train, and he had the distinct feeling she would have more of an aptitude for his preferred style of torture than little Chrome.

Natsu certainly had a habit of attracting Mists above all others.

* * *

 _Third POV..._

Shamal took one look at Mukuro and the others and choked on his booze.

"What the hell! You mean to tell me that the Sky the Feral trio bonded to was this kid?!"

"Kufufufu... The Vindice only left us alone because we were keeping the weaker mafia families from tracking down our Sky in an attempt to force him to join them," said Mukuro pleasantly.

Most had learned to leave the trio the hell alone by the time Natsu entered the exam. Word had spread that the Vindice would not intervene if the Mist went on a rampage with his friends, because they were shielding their Sky from being forcibly recruited. Especially when they figured out who their Sky was.

The Vindice had known Natsu was a Vongola before he did, and more than that was one of the potential heirs.

Reborn glowered at Natsu, who looked back unrepentant.

"You did at least free Lancia-san, right?"

Mukuro's expression suddenly went flat.

"Nii-san..." said Natsu in warning. He sighed. "Where did you leave him?"

Mukuro flinched, before releasing the illusion.

Natsu sighed again.

"Mukuro-nii, let him go or you'll be eating _Ken's_ idea of cooking for the next week."

"You wouldn't dare," said Mukuro.

Natsu stared him in the eye.

Mukuro pouted, but released Lancia.

Needless to say the Italian gave Mukuro a foul look... but at least his anger at what the illusionist did to him was slightly abated upon meeting the same Sky that the Mist had been so adamant about protecting.

The boy was too fluffy and cute not to like. And if he really _was_ the new Vongola heir apparent, then his family wouldn't have stood a chance at keeping him anyway.

He just hoped they'd forgive him for what Mukuro made him do.

"Explain to me how retrieving Natsu's brothers lead to this," said Leorio. Not that he was complaining, mind you. The adults had their own "puppy pile" that came with a very well stocked liquor cabinet, and anyone older than sixteen was welcome to raid it. Kurapika declined, and was currently with the "kiddie pile" in the other half of the living room.

Mostly because he firmly viewed Chrome as an extension of his sister.

"Because with how possessive Mukuro is, not to mention his minions, it was easier to set up a sleep over for the next week or so until they settle in and pick their own rooms than it was to argue about them invading Natsu's room," said Reborn.

He found it hilarious they managed to rope Hibari into it as well, especially since Fon was there.

It was chaotic, loud, and rather fun actually. Even Reborn couldn't complain, despite the fact that he wasn't actually a child at all.


End file.
